A Chance to Redefine
by liv.einziger
Summary: Lisbon's recent behavior has Jane and the team looking for an explanation before it's too late. Could the recent traumas she has suffered have triggered a bad case of PTS? Or is there a bigger plot determining her actions? Co-written with SteeleSimz.
1. Prologue

**A CHANCE TO REDEFINE**

**Lisbon's recent behavior has Jane and the team looking for an explanation before it's too late. Could the recent traumas she has suffered have triggered a bad case of PTS? Or is there a bigger plot determining her actions? Co-written with SteeleSimz. **

_**This is a story written by me and SteeleSimz. It's the first time the both of us co-writes a story, and we hope the result is as satisfying for readers as it has been so far for us as writers!**_

_**Unfortunately, we don't own the show or the characters. **_

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><p>PROLOGUE<p>

Jane pulled into the empty lot and looked toward the building. The building which was once home to a factory and was now abandoned. He could smell the stench of those who lived in it after it was closed down. Cringing and shaking his head he slowly made his way down the empty hallway that seemed to go on forever. He swallowed a quick breath of air before he spoke.

"Lisbon?"

Nothing but silence greeted his ears as he continued down the hallway. Part of his mind was saying he should have waited for the team, but after the past few weeks he wasn't about to wait for anyone. He knew she was here. He headed up to the second floor where in his gut he knew he would find her.

"Lisbon?" Jane yelled a little louder this time as he opened the door to the second level.

"What the hell are you doing here?" Lisbon's voice had spooked him enough to make him stop and look around his surroundings.

"I was in the neighborhood," Jane replied, trying to lighten the mood as he tried to spot her amongst all the crates.

"You need to get out of here," Lisbon's voice was quiet but he knew she was in front of him, quite a few feet away.

"Why?" Jane asked as he headed toward where he had heard her voice coming from.

"Jane, just get out of here," Lisbon said, more loudly this time. But he still couldn't see her as he headed towards a stack of crates.

"Not without you," Jane replied as he reached them.

"God, you never listen," Lisbon stated firmly as she stepped out from behind the crate, pointing a gun at him.

Jane took a couple of steps backwards with a more than shocked expression on his face, his eyes switching focus between her face and her gun.

"Lisbon, what are you doing?" Jane tried to make it sound like a joke but his voice quivered as he looked at her.

"I told you to get out of here, but you didn't listen did you," Lisbon's voice was stern as she walked closer to Jane with her gun still aimed at him.

"Lisbon, breathe in and…" Jane began to say.

"Don't even think of doing that," Lisbon warned. Jane raised his hands in defeat.

"Put the gun down, please," Jane spoke softly as his eyes met hers. They kept eye contact for several seconds until they heard the sound of sirens in the background.

"Lisbon, let me help you," Jane said as he took a slow step closer to her.

"I don't need your help and never had," Lisbon stated with anger in her voice. The sirens grew louder around them.

"What do you want me to do?" Jane asked with a voice that didn't seem to be his own.

Lisbon met his eyes once more before she spoke.

"Trust me," she asked as the grip of her hands on the gun never hesitated.

The gunshot rang through Jane's ears as he felt the burning hot pain of the bullet that passed through his flesh. He closed his eyes as he fell to the ground, trying to catch his breath.

"Forgive me," Lisbon whispered quietly near his ear before leaving him.

"In, Out," Jane repeated in his head trying to erase the pain that was shooting from where Lisbon's bullet had hit him. In a distance he could hear the yells of several agents.

"Jane? We need a medic here, now!" Cho yelled as he kneeled down next to Jane and placed pressure on his wound. Jane winced at the pain.

"Jane, what happened?" the agent asked softly.

"She shot me," Jane whispered, before the pain finally overtook him and he shut his eyes.


	2. I don't even know anymore

_**SteeleSimz and I would like to thank everyone for the alerts, favorites and reviews. This has been an awesome creative experience for us both so far, thanks a lot for taking an interest in our story! **_

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><p>1. I DON'T EVEN KNOW ANYMORE<p>

The argument could be heard throughout the entire floor. Jane and Lisbon exited the elevator; Jane's voice was loud yet controlled; Lisbon's was shrill and exasperated.

"I told you not to insult him," she snarled, making several heads turn her way as she walked towards her office. "But you just couldn't help it, could you?"

"The guy is an ass," Jane defended himself.

"Jane, in order to get a warrant we need a judge to sign off on it, so stop insulting them," Lisbon stated angrily as the two of them entered the office.

"He wasn't going to give us the warrant…" Jane began to say, but was interrupted.

"You don't know that," Lisbon hissed.

Jane rolled his eyes and headed towards her couch.

"Don't even think about it," she commanded. "You are going to go and try to fix this mess that you created."

"Or what?" Jane asked sarcastically. Lisbon glared at him from behind her desk.

"Just go," Lisbon said sternly. Jane shrugged and headed towards the door.

"You know, you should have paid better attention in those anger management classes," Jane quickly stated as he left the office just when the pen flew behind him.

"Jackass," Lisbon said quietly to herself, knowing he was heading either to his couch or his attic.

She was still sighing in frustration when her cell phone suddenly rang inside her pocket. She thought it could be Jane, trying to tell her once again how much of a jerk that judge was, as though she didn't know that or it justified his disrespectful behavior. The number on the display was, however, completely unknown to her. She answered the call.

"Lisbon."

"You are done," said slowly a weird, yet in some uncanny way, familiar voice.

"What?" was her retort. "Who's this? Jane, is that you? Are you trying to mess with me?"

"Who the hell is Jane?" the voice spoke, and the line went mute in the next moment.

Lisbon realized she was shaking; she quickly dialed a number from the landline, taking deep breaths to try to ease the hurried beating of her heart.

"Hey," she said, "this is Agent Lisbon from Serious Crimes. Can you trace a call that I've just received in my cell?"

She gave her colleague her number and, a few minutes later, he gave her an address. For some reason, she thought she had to go see what was there, so she picked up the car keys and left her office without a word to the rest of the team.

That voice was all she could think of as she headed down the highway towards her destination. If she could only remember where she had once heard it... The sound of a nearby car horn jerked her attention back to the road. Checking the G.P.S she knew she was getting closer to her exit.

"You have arrived at your destination," she listened as the female voice of the G.P.S. system informed her, sighing to herself as she pulled into the empty parking lot. The place seemed to be abandoned but, if her cop instinct had taught her anything, she wasn't about to get out of the car. Her cell phone rang suddenly, making her jump.

"Hello," Lisbon answered quietly.

"I'm not going to go and apologize to that judge, and you shouldn't either," Jane stated through the speaker. Lisbon rolled her eyes. The man could sometimes have the worst timing in the world.

"Jane, I'm not going to have this argument with you again. Get off your couch and apologize," Lisbon hissed, then hung up the phone.

Before she could hit the button, though, she heard his voice asking where she was. Maybe it would have been a good idea to let him know, just in case… But there would be no need, she told herself the next moment. She was scared, but there was no reason to; she was going to take a look at the place just to make sure and then she would be back to the office in no time. Turning off the engine to the SUV, she was about to exit the car when the phone rang again.

"Damn it Jane, I'm not kidding…," she began irritably.

"This isn't Jane," the familiar voice stated. "I see the cop in you hasn't learned over the years."

"Who is this?" she demanded.

"Exit the vehicle and head toward the rear door," the voice instructed.

"Not happening," Lisbon retorted.

"I recommend you exit the car this instant, Agent Lisbon, or else…" the voice threatened.

"Tell me who you are first," Lisbon interrupted, disregarding the demand.

"In the back of the vehicle there is a bomb," the voice stated. "It is located under the tarp. You've got about two minutes left before it explodes."

The line went completely silent, and as Lisbon put her phone away, she felt her whole body shaking. It was sheer panic that caused her to exit the vehicle and head toward its back. She opened the trunk; there in the cargo hold laid a green tarp. Holding her breath for a second, she slowly reached down and pulled the tarp up. The blinking L.E.D light was showing less than a minute left. Gasping at the sight of the bomb she forced her legs to move in a quick run away from the bomb.

She heard the blast before she felt the heat push her down to the ground. Covering her head from any debris that might fall towards her, she felt her arms hit the ground first, then the rest of her body. In a few seconds that felt like an eternity, it was over. The blast left a ringing in her ears as she slowly got to her feet again. Looking at the now burning pile of metal, she remembered where she had heard that voice before. But that wasn't possible; the voice belonged to someone who had been executed.

* * *

><p>Fifteen minutes later, the fire department was close to putting out the fire when the team had arrived at the scene. Lisbon was sitting in the back of the ambulance when Jane came over to her.<p>

"You okay?" Jane asked with concern.

"I'll be fine," Lisbon replied, but didn't meet his eyes. "Just a couple of cuts but nothing major."

"Boss, what happened?" Rigsby asked as the paramedic left Lisbon alone with the team.

"I got a tip on the case and left to check it out, but the car started having problems so I pulled over and then it exploded," Lisbon stated, hoping they would believe her.

"Lucky you weren't in it," Van Pelt replied.

"Anything we can do?" Cho asked, seeming emotionless, but Lisbon could sense his concern.

"Yeah, give me a ride back to the office," she replied as she got off the ambulance and started toward the cars.

"Let me do it," Jane offered.

"Hmm, I don't think so," she refused awkwardly before climbing into the car. "You need to go apologize to that judge."

Jane stood there watching as Cho drove off back towards the CBI. He knew Lisbon had lied to him about being okay, but why had she done it? She would normally play tough, but he sensed it was something different this time. Jane turned around and headed towards the charred pile of mess that now lay in the middle of the parking lot. He walked around the entire scene hoping that something would jump out at him.

"Who are you?" A voice asked from behind him.

"Patrick Jane, consultant with the CBI," he replied without looking away from the burnt pile.

"Can I help you with something?" the fire chief asked.

"What caused the fire?" Jane asked.

"A small bomb," the chief replied. Jane spun around and looked at him.

"A bomb?"

"Yes, according to the witness. She stated she found a bomb in the back of the cargo hold. We aren't sure what type at the moment," the chief answered.

"Thanks," Jane said absently. He headed back towards his car with only one thought in his head: Lisbon had not only lied about her being okay but she had also lied about the entire situation.

He drove back to the bureau, and, as soon as he got out of the elevator on the Serious Crimes floor, he headed directly to Lisbon's office. She wasn't there, though. He went into the bullpen and asked his team mates where she was, to which Cho answered that LaRoche had given Lisbon express orders to go home and rest after the accident.

That actually made Jane chuckle.

"And she left, just like that, without a fight?" he said, in protest.

"Did you expect her to stay?" Rigsby asked. "She was injured, nothing serious, but still."

"She left Cho in charge," Van Pelt stated in a defensive tone. "We're gonna find out who did this to her. Are you in?"

The truth was, however, that there were no clues left at the scene. Rigsby had gone back to the scene with a team of arson specialists, but nothing they could find gave any clues to who might have planted the bomb in Lisbon's car. Van Pelt had checked out surveillance videos from the areas near where the car had blown up, but none showed the incident or anybody near the scene, even hours before. She had also taken a look at the surveillance videos from the CBI's parking lot, while Cho had questioned every employee who could have seen anything, but all of those attempts also failed at raising any suspicions as to how a bomb could have appeared in Lisbon's trunk.

After a long day of basically just wasting time, Jane still couldn't forget the sensation that Lisbon was lying about something, if not about many things. He decided then that he would go see her and see if he could elicit the reason for that. He arrived at her apartment building at around 9PM, wondering if she was already asleep. That didn't matter, though, because, asleep or not, he was there to see her, so he rang the bell and waited for her to answer. After waiting for almost a minute, he rang the bell again. Another minute went by without an answer of any kind.

Jane decided to pick the lock, which he did with no difficulty. He entered the apartment and heard the sound of the television, which was very loud, but there was nobody watching it in the living room. That's when he noticed two chairs tumbled across the floor, her bookcase void of books, which pooled around it on the floor, and two lamps lying broken on their respective places.

"Lisbon!" he called, walking into the kitchen just to see that it was also empty. "Lisbon!"

There, he found the cabinets open wide, and their pans and plates and glasses on the sink top. As if somebody was looking for something, but was interrupted. Then, the perpetrator had maybe tried to escape and was tackled. After that there had been struggle in the living room, causing the mess he had just witnessed. Jane went up the stairs and checked in Lisbon's bedroom, in the spare room and in the bathroom. They seemed intact, and there was nobody there either. It had already been dark for a while, but all the windows were still open, not to mention the television speaking to no audience downstairs. And the unattended mess.

There was only one explanation; it seemed as if Lisbon had been taken.


	3. Reading between the looks

2. READING BETWEEN THE LOOKS

Jane felt his heart race faster at the thought that something might have happened to Lisbon. He quickly opened his cell phone and called her number as he practically ran down the stairs.

"Crap," Jane mumbled to himself as he heard the distinct sounding of a phone vibrating against a table.

It was in the kitchen, sitting on the counter, _Patrick Jane_ written on the glowing display. He shut his phone and took hers to see who had last called her; the only other number besides his, though, was a blocked number. Sighing in frustration, he put the phone down and took his own again to dial Cho's number with trembling fingers.

"Cho," he answered after the first ring.

"We have a problem," Jane said in a shaky voice, surprising himself. "I came over to Lisbon's place tonight and when I got here she was nowhere to be found."

Jane headed towards the living room to turn off the TV – but then he reminded himself that he should probably not touch anything: that was now a crime scene.

"What do you mean?" Cho asked unemotional.

"I picked the lock when she didn't answer the door," Jane replied. "I found a real mess over here, and the windows open, TV on, but no one around. Her cell phone was left on the counter."

"You picked the lock?" Cho asked. Jane rolled his eyes.

"Cho, can you just…" Jane started to speak when he saw the front door open. Lisbon walked in only to jump at the sight of him standing in her living room.

"What the hell, Jane!" Lisbon hissed.

"Never mind, Cho," Jane stated. "She's just walked in."

He hung up, never taking his eyes off her. She looked all right; no cuts, no bruises. But what about the struggle?

"I came over to see how you were," he stated, taking deep breaths to ease his heart rate.

"More like breaking and entering," Lisbon shot back as she walked up to him.

"Well, I did knock," Jane grinned.

Lisbon shook her head. Jane observed her, taking in every detail.

"Go home, Jane," she pleaded exhaustedly.

"Where were you tonight?" Jane asked as he watched her sit down.

"None of your business," she snarled, noticing that his question hadn't been a real question. He just wanted her reaction. She had no time to deal with him now. "Come on, just leave."

"What is going on?" Jane pressed, taking a few steps towards her.

"Nothing is going on," Lisbon answered. "It's been a long day. I went for a quick walk around to ease my mind and now I'm tired, so if you could, please, just go away…"

"You know I know that you are lying. Tell me the truth," Jane demanded, but didn't move from his spot.

"You are accusing me of lying, now that is rich," Lisbon snickered.

"You lied about the bomb, and you lied about where you were this evening," Jane stated with irritation rising in his voice. "So are you going to continue to lie to me, or actually tell me what is going on?"

Jane could see her mind at work, wondering what to answer, or, rather, how to get rid of him. He sighed, and decided to show her how he could read her, once again.

"You were checking the perimeter around the block," he said. "I saw it as you concealed the gun from me as you entered."

She looked up at him, visibly tired. There was a plea in her eyes. But he wasn't going to stop now.

"When you arrived home, you immediately started to look for bugs or cameras."

He walked a few steps, reached down to the coffee table to take the remote and turn down the volume completely.

"You turned up the volume of the television so your neighbors wouldn't hear the sounds as you looked… Then, of course, something stopped you, because you didn't check upstairs. I'm guessing… a noise? Coming from outside? Something really scary."

Lisbon wanted to stand up and make him stop, but she didn't feel like she had the energy to even argue. She had known he would know. She had been sure. But what if there were bugs in the apartment? What if somebody could hear what he was saying?

"And that," he was saying, "made you get your gun and get out of the apartment, to see if you saw someone."

This is when Lisbon did, after all, stand up, in a sudden movement, and walked up to Jane.

"Yeah, I'm scared, so I'm being paranoid and hearing things," she said, disturbed. "I wanna find the son of a bitch who put a bomb in my car, so now I'm doubting even my own shadow."

She was almost close to tears now, but she was, of course, struggling and succeeding in keeping them all from falling down her face.

Jane shook his head.

"You're still not telling me everything," he said, with a half smile. "There's something else going on."

Lisbon took one more step, standing just inches away from Jane now.

"Nothing is going on," she stated firmly, making sure her eyes met his.

The smug hint of a smile that he had just been wearing disappeared completely as Jane stared at her with bewilderment for quite a few moments. She stared back, shifting the focus from one of his eyes to the other.

"Okay," Jane stated softly as he headed towards the front door. Lisbon followed him and opened it up for him.

"Good night, Jane," she said firmly.

"Yeah, good night," Jane replied, confusion still looming in his voice.

He headed towards his car, wondering for the first time since they had met, all those years ago, about how this time he couldn't tell if she was lying to him or not.

* * *

><p>From four AM on, Lisbon just gave up trying to sleep. It had been difficult to fall asleep, and during the little sleep she had been able to get, she had had horrible nightmares. She just lay awake in bed, thinking about many things, including Jane's visit in the previous night. She had to decide on what to do about him… When she couldn't take it anymore, she got up and went to the bathroom to take a shower, which didn't really help clearing her head. Then she got dressed, went downstairs, made and drank some coffee, and, when it wasn't too early anymore, left for the CBI.<p>

When she arrived, only Jane was there, sitting on his couch, having a cup of tea. He nodded at her, with a half smile, and she nodded back, with a confused expression. As the rest of the team arrived, each of them went to her office to say hello and see how she was doing, with concerned looks, especially Van Pelt, the first to arrive. Near lunch time, the young agent called her into the bullpen because she had found something.

"Boss, come see this," she said, taking Lisbon with her.

Jane observed Lisbon as Van Pelt brought her to her desk, where he, Cho and Rigsby were ready to see whatever it was that Van Pelt needed to show them. For some reason, she seemed to be avoiding his glance. He felt the urge to tease her again about her possible lies, just to see if she was going to be as convincing as the night before.

"Do you see this?" Van Pelt asked, trembling with excitement. "It's the car you were using, parked close to a suspect's house as you were interviewing him yesterday morning. I've found the surveillance video that shows the person who has planted the bomb inside the trunk of your car."

She hit "play" and the video showed a man, dressed in black, installing the explosives and everything else in her trunk. It was difficult to see his face because the camera was filming from far away. But, apparently, judging from the rookie agent's expression at least, Jane thought, that was not a problem.

"I'm gonna hand it to forensics," she said reassuringly. "I'm sure they can enhance the video so we can identify who did this to you."

Lisbon nodded, but she didn't seem happy, or relieved, or satisfied. She seemed apprehensive.

"Do that," she commanded, "then go to that suspect's house again, see if you can find any eye witnesses or anything else. Take Rigsby with you."

"Yes, ma'am," Van Pelt nodded, leaving immediately, followed by Rigsby.

She just spun on her heels and left hurriedly towards her office. Jane observed her, and she noticed; once inside the office, she looked at him through the blinds, just to shut them a moment later. That made Jane wonder what she needed privacy for. He went into the break room to make himself another cup of tea, and once it was ready, he decided to go to her office, see if he could elicit anything from her. He was surprised when he didn't find her in there.

He sat at her desk, drinking his tea and waiting. He took a furtive look inside her drawers and through all the paper piled up, but found nothing out of the ordinary. Then the phone rang. Jane asked himself if he should answer, but he ended up doing it.

"Yes," he said.

"Jane, this is Rigsby. Grace and I had an accident… well, more like a car crashed against us. I'm okay, but Grace hit her head… we're in an ambulance going to the hospital."

Jane and Cho went straight to the hospital, Jane trying to call Lisbon, but it would go straight to voicemail. He left her a message, worrying about the possibility of something similar having happened to her as well. When they arrived at the hospital, they were still treating Van Pelt, and running tests to make sure she was going to be fine. Rigsby only had a few bruises, but he was very nervous, walking around in the hallway as he waited. It took at least fifteen more minutes for Lisbon to arrive.

"Where is she?" were her first words, seeming genuinely worried.

Jane took a step towards her.

"Where were you?" he demanded to know, in a very intense manner, with an irritated expression.

Lisbon smiled in disbelief.

"Excuse me?" she said, outraged. "I was at the bank paying my bills, how's that any of your business?"

"I tried to call you," he complained.

"It worked," she stated, irritably. "I heard your message and here I am, now, _where is she_?"

Jane glared at Lisbon, without answering. Rigsby stepped up to interrupt the fight.

"What matters is that we're all here now," he said. "Now we should be worried about Van Pelt and nothing else."

Lisbon shook her head, scowling at Jane, and walked away from him, standing next to Cho, who seemed completely impartial towards the situation. Jane sighed, observing Lisbon still, and wondering what was this horrible sensation that he had now that every word she said was a lie, that nothing she did was as undoubtedly worth trusting as he had once been certain.

It didn't help that later that day, when they were all back at the office – except Van Pelt, who was going to be just fine but had to stay in observation for a few days – the tapes that the agent and the forensics team had been in possession of were all suddenly gone.


	4. Jigsaw puzzle

3. JIGSAW PUZZLE

The team spent the rest of the afternoon looking for any leads to where the tapes could have gone. The cameras had been deactivated for a few minutes, which allowed enough time for a person to steal them. But who had taken them was still the question. Jane had suggested that is was someone working inside the building; Rigsby had retorted back that no one would steal evidence from the lockup. On the other hand, no stranger had been seen entering or leaving the building. Which, at the end of the day, had the team at a dead end. It was late in the evening when Lisbon told the team to go home and get some sleep. Rigsby and Cho nodded and headed towards the elevators leaving Jane and her alone in the bullpen.

"You should go home also," Lisbon told Jane as she headed towards her office.

"Are _you_ going home?" Jane asked quietly as he followed her.

"Where else would I go?" Lisbon replied but instantly regretted her statement. Sighing to herself, she turned to look at Jane. "Listen… It's been a rough few days, I just want to go home and get some sleep."

"Do you want some company?" Jane suggested with an enigmatic grin. Lisbon felt herself laugh.

"No, I think I'll be fine," she replied as she grabbed her stuff and headed towards the elevator.

"Are you sure?" Jane insisted. "I can always sleep on the couch. I just want to make sure you're safe."

That's not all he wanted to make sure but he did, really, worry about her safety. Of course he did. They were entering the elevator, and Lisbon threw an incredulous look at him.

"You protecting me? No, thanks; I think I'll stick with my gun," she remarked.

"Meh, you people and your guns," Jane responded as they exited the elevator.

"We aren't even going to get into that discussion," Lisbon stated as she headed towards her car.

Jane moved as if towards her car, watching her go. As soon as her car had left the CBI parking lot, though, he headed back into the building.

Something had been nagging him ever since he had returned from the hospital. Something about the bomb, Lisbon lying, the car crash, and the missing tapes; they all seemed to be connected to something he couldn't place his finger on. Or he could, but didn't want to; he was suspecting Lisbon as being the one who had stolen the evidence. He absolutely hated the idea, especially because he would hate to be unfair and mistakenly suspect her, but he knew that his instincts were very rarely wrong. He headed towards his attic to clear his head. As he laid on his make-shift bed he thought of everything that had happened. An hour later he felt as if he was running around in circles and headed down to the kitchen to make himself a cup of tea.

As he walked across the bullpen he noticed that the light to Lisbon's office was on. Curious to why she was back in the office, he headed there. He was a few feet away from the window when he saw that she was reading a file. The file was what caught his attention; it had a stamp mark that wasn't the one from CBI. He squinted his eyes in hopes of getting a better look but it was impossible to read. His impulse was to storm into the office and surprise her, in hopes of finding anything out, but he decided hiding was the best option for the moment.

So she had pretended to leave just so he would leave too? Why did she keep giving him reasons to doubt her when he would so much prefer not to? What about that little escapade earlier? When she had known exactly where Van Pelt and Rigsby would be… No! He didn't want to think she would have intentionally caused an accident involving her team members. There had to be an explanation to where she had been, maybe even something to do with that file she was reading.

He watched as she sighed and closed the file; rubbing her eyes, she got up from the desk and headed toward the couch. Jane moved into the shadows of the bullpen in order for her not to notice him. He sighed to himself and headed back towards the kitchen to make his tea. By the time he was finished, she was probably going to be sound asleep and he could get a chance to find out what the file was all about. And he was right. He approached her office slowly with a cup of tea in hand and saw as she lay quietly on her couch, her chest weaving lightly while she breathed in and out, without much of a sound.

Careful not to make a sound himself, he rested his teacup on her desk and sat down on her chair, observing her cautiously. As she didn't move, he looked down to see the San Francisco Police Department's stamp on the file. He narrowed his eyes, opening it. There was a picture of a man in his mid-thirties and a form filled out with information which he started to read. There wasn't nearly as much light as he would have preferred, but he didn't risk turning the desk lamp on; he wanted to get a chance to read something before she woke up.

The man in the photo was named Davis Lane, and he was accused of having kidnapped and killed at least ten little girls. Jane cringed at reading this piece of information. He soon found the connection to Lisbon, though; she, along with Sam Bosco, were investigating the case. As the file reflected, though, enough proof to charge him was never found, even though he ended up killed when he pointed a gun at both inspectors, as stated by both. Jane looked up from the file, rubbing his chin as he thought. That was it. That was what Lisbon had known about Bosco; Davis Lane had probably not pointed a gun at them, but, rather, Bosco had shot him because he had known he would go free. And Lisbon had testified saying there had been no other choice than to shoot the suspect.

What, though, could that case have to do with anything now? Why did Lisbon have it and why had she come back to the office just to read it in the middle of the night? Something that she probably knew by heart? Taking a sip from his tea, Jane contained the impulse of waking her up to ask, but he stood up and walked towards the couch, then crouched so he could take a close look at her face, into her closed eyes. What was going on with her?

Could it be that she had been lying and stealing evidence from her own team? For what purpose? On the other hand, could it be that the bomb threat had triggered a somewhat paranoid behavior, which had her looking for bugs in her apartment, not feeling safe to stay at home and going back to previous cases when she had felt there had been loose ends? Looking at her, sleeping what seemed like a peaceful sleep, Jane couldn't bring himself to believe the first option. Standing up to his feet again, he walked back towards the desk, drank the rest of his tea and left.

* * *

><p>The last time Jane had seen the man he was going to meet, he had introduced him a potential girlfriend, so he was actually curious to find out if they had turned out to be together in the end. Virgil Minelli gave him a smile from a distance, as soon as he recognized him. As Jane approached, the former CBI chief started shaking his head slowly, a bit of that smile still on his lips and a hand to his waist.<p>

"What do you want, Jane?" was his greeting.

"Nice to see you too, Virgil," he said, smiling widely and hugging Minelli, who pushed him away as soon as he could

"Seriously, Jane, what brings you here?" Minelli insisted. "You're interrupting my fishing. _Again_."

"What if I simply want to know how you're doing, my old friend?" Jane asked innocently.

"I'm not that old," Minelli defended himself. "And I know you better than that, so cut the crap."

Jane nodded, smiling, thinking of how much Minelli and Lisbon were similar sometimes. He really was a father figure for her, and an appropriate one.

"I wanna ask something about Lisbon," Jane humored the retired agent.

"What exactly?"

"I want to know if you know anything about the Davis Lane case," Jane said flatly. "Lisbon and Bosco worked on it at SFPD before joining the CBI."

Minelli took a deep breath, then sighed loudly. It was clear he knew something, if not everything.

"Why are you asking about that, Jane? Ten years later?"

"Aha," Jane smiled, his finger poised in front of him. "You're asking the wrong question. The right question is why is _Lisbon_ looking at this file ten years later? She went down to San Francisco just to get a copy of it. I checked her car's G.P.S.."

Minelli cocked his head to the side, with incredulity.

"So you're spying on her now?" he asked, defensively. "Why?"

"It's really beautiful to see how you defend her as if she were your own daughter!" Jane commented, hands on his hips, smiling and nodding enthusiastically. "But the thing is, I don't know if you've heard, but someone tried to kill her two days ago. They planted a bomb in her car."

Jane watched as worry grew in the old man's eyes.

"Is she all right?" he breathed as soon as shock allowed him.

Jane shrugged.

"Physically, yes. Mentally, I'm not so sure. Like I said, she drove all the way to San Francisco to get that file. Do you think it could have something to do with the attempt to kill her?"

Minelli didn't quite know how to respond, but Jane could see that was because he was very concerned about Lisbon.

"No, I don't think so," was his evasive retort.

"Maybe someone who was unhappy when Bosco killed Davis Lane," Jane suggested.

"Bosco had no choice," Minelli argued.

"Meh," Jane cut off. "I know the truth, Virgil."

"And what would that be?" Minelli asked irritated.

"Davis Lane never pointed a gun at Bosco and Lisbon was nowhere near the scene when it happened," Jane stated.

"You're wrong," Minelli replied unconvincing. Jane caught his eyes and smiled.

"Am I?" Jane asked with a smirk.

"Leave it alone, Jane," Minelli warned. Jane's smirk disappeared. "She can protect herself."

"I won't leave it alone. I will protect her by any means possible," Jane stated severely before leaving.

Minelli watched him go, then sighed to himself as he grabbed his cell phone out of his pocket and dialed a familiar number.

"Lisbon," he said as soon as he heard the sound of her picking up. "Hey, it's me. Can you meet me at the café?"

Minelli waited for her answer as he started to pack up his belongings.

"Is something wrong?" Lisbon asked over the phone. He could hear the exhaustion in her voice.

"Just meet me," Minelli responded before hanging up.

The café was a quite hold in the wall place that allowed some quietness from the busy city. It was crowded with the afternoon rush of people looking to escape the heat. As Lisbon entered the café, she noticed that Minelli had already gotten a table in the far corner. She smiled to him as she approached it. He rose to his feet to greet her with a quick hug.

"So what is the problem?" Lisbon asked as she sat down. Minelli studied her face, he could see the dark rings under her eyes from lack of sleep and the thin lines of stress.

"Jane came to see me this morning," Minelli responded. Lisbon's smile vanished in an instant.

"About?" Lisbon asked quietly.

"He is worried about you," Minelli answered softly.

"Since when?" Lisbon shot back with resentment.

"He told me about the bomb in the car," Minelli explained.

"It was nothing. I'm fine," Lisbon replied hastily.

"He thinks that it has something to do with the Davis Lane case from ten years ago," Minelli pressed on, knowing he was pushing her buttons.

Lisbon swallowed quickly, looking around her as though she was looking for an answer.

"Where did he get that idea from?" she managed to reply, feigning surprise. "He's wrong."

Minelli stared at her; he knew her too well.

"Are you sure?" Minelli questioned.

Lisbon huffed and got up from the table.

"Jane doesn't know what he's talking about. I need to get back to work," Lisbon said before walking towards the door.

Minelli sighed once again to himself. He'd had a hunch that Jane was right, but now he knew for sure that he was and that Lisbon was in trouble.

Lisbon returned to the office with her temper already fuming from her meeting with Minelli. She headed towards the bullpen, hoping to find the person that had ultimately caused her anger. But he was nowhere to be seen.

"Boss, the judge just gave us the warrant to check Kyle's place," Rigsby stated as he entered the bullpen.

"What?" Lisbon asked confused.

"Jane said we need to check Kyle's place because he believes it was the roommate," Rigsby explained.

"Yes of course. I want you and Cho to handle the rest of the case," Lisbon stated. Rigsby nodded his head. "Have you seen Jane?"

"Last time I saw him he was heading towards the attic," Rigsby replied. "Is everything okay?"

"Yes. I'm just going to talk to the boss about taking some personal days," Lisbon replied. Rigsby looked at her with a concerned look.

"Not feeling well, nothing to worry about," she said, before he could even think of a reply. "Keep me updated on the case."

Lisbon left towards the stairs without another word. She entered the attic to find Jane sitting on his bed looking out towards the setting of the sun against the city. She walked over to him, glaring.

"Beautiful sunset today," Jane motioned towards the windows.

"Stay the hell out of my personal life," Lisbon snarled. Jane glared back at her as he rose to his feet.

"Not a chance. I know the bomb is connected to Davis Lane. I also know that you stole the tapes from evidence lock-up," Jane snapped. Lisbon gasped as he finished his sentence.

"I saw the file in your office," Jane continued. "I know you took your car to San Francisco to get the file. And I also know that you lied in the report that you and Bosco filed. You were never near the scene when he shot Davis. Ergo that was the thing that you held against Bosco to get me out of prison."

Lisbon took a step backwards at his explanation. She knew that he would figure it out eventually. But for some reason she felt as if he had invaded her personal life. And she was also worried. Which made her even angrier about the whole thing.

"God, you just can't leave things alone, can you?" Lisbon said when she found her voice again, taking a step towards him.

"Not when it comes to those I care about," Jane replied quietly, with a challenging look.

The next thing Jane felt was Lisbon's fist connecting with his nose. He yelped, and took his hand to where she had hit him, trying to ease the stinging pain.

"Stay out of my life," Lisbon pronounced every word before turning around to leave.

Jane watched as she left the attic, knowing that he had pissed her off and that she really did have a good right hook, but also that there was something else going on; she hadn't tried to defend herself when he had accused her, neither had she seemed surprised that he knew about those things. However, whatever her emotions during that conversation meant, he could swear he had detected genuine worry on her face, not about herself, but about him.


	5. Welcome to hell on Earth

4. WELCOME TO HELL ON EARTH

As she stared into the fire, she heard the faint sound of footsteps on the dirty ground, and she was reflexively reaching for her gun when that spooky and impossibly known voice spoke from right behind her.

"Hello, Teresa," he said. "Don't turn around and I suggest you don't move; I've got a gun pointed right at the back of your head. Any suspicious movement and I'll take the shot."

"Who are you?" she asked, in a weak voice. "What are you doing?"

"I'm doing what I have to, my dear. This was just a demonstration of what I'm willing to do. Like I promised, you're done. That was it for you; your life ends here."

Against her will, a tear jumped off her eye.

"Are you gonna kill me?" she asked, ashamed that her voice broke at the end.

"Yes," was the calm, confident answer. "But not now. When I do kill you, though, you're gonna be begging me to do it. Welcome to hell on Earth."

Lisbon's hands turned into fists. She wanted to defend herself somehow, to turn around and look the son of a bitch in the eye; to give him an unexpected kick, to disarm him; to take her gun and point it at him, to arrest him, to end this right then. But she was paralyzed, all too aware of the gun pointed at the back of her head. It was almost as if the metal was actually touching the base of her skull, and she could feel the pressure of the bullet, waiting to be released into its target.

Another tear rolled down her face then.

"Good girl," the voice spoke, and Lisbon realized he was quite a few feet away from her now. "Listen to me. You're going to die, as I've just told you, but it's your responsibility whether you take somebody with you. Anybody you tell about this is gonna turn up dead, and you will know that it was _you_ who killed them. Do you understand?"

_Jane_, was the first name to pop into her mind. He would know there was something up. She couldn't lie to him, he would catch her in the lie every time. He was going to find something out, and, if something happened to him… She'd rather not even think about that. She wanted to cry, and to shout; the worst was the feeling that there was nothing she could do at the moment. That he had her at gunpoint, the difference between her life and her death, right in his hands, and there was nothing she could do.

Who was this person? He couldn't be the person she was thinking about. It was just not possible! And yet, it sounded just like him. Perhaps a slightly different tone of voice, but that could be explained by her not so perfectly sharp memory, or by the passing of years. After all, it had been more than ten years ago when she had last heard that voice.

"I said _do you understand_?" he repeated, very slowly.

"Yes," she said, trying to contain the urge to start sobbing with panic. "I understand."

"Good," the voice said, now accompanied by that sound of his slow, light footsteps, walking away from her. "Don't move yet. When I'm gone, call 911. And remember; don't tell anyone about our little conversation. Bye, Teresa."

Lisbon shot up from her bed, her breathing heavy. She could feel the cold sweat running down her face as she tried to collect her thoughts. If it had been a nightmare, she wouldn't be so scared, but the nightmare was her reality and the one thing she hadn't mentioned to anyone, especially Jane, after the bomb had gone off.

Sighing to herself, she got up from the bed and headed down to the kitchen. Maybe a cup of tea would calm her. A smirk played on her lips at the thought. She started the kettle and then headed to the counter to check the messages on her phone. A few updates from Cho about their latest case and then the rest were from Jane wondering if she was all right.

Her hands trembled on the call back button as she debated if she should call him and apologize. Not just for the lies, but also for punching him in the nose. No matter how much she tried to deny it to herself and others, Jane had become her closest friend, and even though she had told him on several occasions that she didn't trust him, in fact she did. He would be by her side in an instant and ready to do anything to save her. But the price was too high in this case and no matter how much he pushed her, she wouldn't risk his life.

The tea kettle's whistle brought her back to reality. She pulled the kettle off the stove just as her phone rang. It was three in the morning and only one person could be calling. She picked it up.

"Hello," she said.

"I thought you might be awake," Jane replied over the line.

"Jane, you do know that people sleep during this time of day," Lisbon smirked.

"Most people do, but you weren't sleeping," Jane stated nonchalantly.

"How do you know?" Lisbon countered as she poured the hot water into a cup.

"Because Teresa Lisbon rarely sleeps, especially with all the stress she's been going through lately, and I can hear you pouring yourself a cup coffee," Jane answered.

Lisbon felt herself laugh for the first time in days.

"Tea, not coffee."

"Nice to see you learn that tea is better than coffee," Jane remarked.

"Not in a million years," Lisbon stated as she took a sip.

There was moment of silence between them before Jane spoke up.

"So how have you been?"

"I'm fine, Jane," Lisbon replied quietly. She was about to continue when she heard a knock on the door. "I'll call you back," she said in a hurry as she hung up and walked over to the door.

She switched the porch light on before she looked through the peephole. There was nothing outside her door. A sense of panic rose in her and she walked over to the side table and grabbed her gun. Slowly she unlocked the door and stepped outside. There was no one around, not even an animal. Sighing to herself she headed back inside and was about to close the door when she noticed a piece of paper on the ground. She bent down and picked it up before heading back inside. Opening the paper she noticed there was one line typed.

"Keep him away or else."

Lisbon just stared at the letter in disbelief. How was it possible for this person to know that Jane had checked up on her, when she had double checked for any listening devices? Her mind was telling her to report the letter to the CBI and ask for help. But what if he found out and went after the team? She couldn't even think about risking it.

There was only one solution to end this ordeal; she would need to face the man herself. She walked over to the bookcase and placed the letter inside the case for her Spice Girls CD. If anything was to happen to her then the team would search her place for clues. And if she knew Jane as well as he knew her then he would check the case.

She headed back to the side table and picked up her phone. Going through previous calls she found the number she was looking for. She hit the call button and waited.

"Yes?" the voice stated.

"What do you want me to do?" Lisbon replied in a serious voice.

"Glad to see you are willing to participate," the voice answered.

"Who are you?" she asked quietly.

"All in good time. I assume you already have the file on Davis Lane," the voice verifies. "I want you to bring that file to the empty factory."

"I want you to promise that no harm will come to anyone," Lisbon requested.

"If you do as you are told then you have my promise that I won't hurt anyone, especially Mr. Jane. A man who seems to be more important to you then your own life," the voice answered.

"He is a friend and nothing else," Lisbon quelled. The voice laughed on the other side of the line.

"Meet me at the factory in two hours," the voice demanded. "And don't call this number again; it will be disconnected. From now on, I'll contact you."

The line went mute.

* * *

><p>Lisbon looked around the abandoned parking lot to the factory once again. The place was even creepier than in the daylight. She noticed that there was a small amount of light emerging from the second floor. Turning off the engine to her car, she opened the door. The slight chill to the air made her shudder as she got out of the car. She wasn't sure if it was because she was afraid or because it was definitely fall.<p>

She headed towards the side of the factory and saw that there was a side door opened. Placing her hand on her weapon she slowly walked towards the door. The stench caught her by surprise as she entered the first floor of the factory. Her eyes took in the entire first floor which had boxes and old crates. Her eyes caught the stairs that led to the second floor. Heading towards them she pulled her gun out of the holster.

"Lower your weapon," the voice boomed throughout the floor making her jump.

"Show yourself!" Lisbon demanded, refusing to lower her weapon.

"You are in no position to disobey me," the voice stated firmly, though quieter than before.

"I don't like to be threatened," Lisbon growled as she tried to find the source of the voice.

"How about when it comes to your team?" the voice replied from right behind her.

Lisbon turned around and, for the first time, faced the owner of the voice. He was about six foot and wearing jeans, hoodie and a ski mask. She noticed that his eyes were a dark shade of blue. She kept her gun aimed at his chest.

"I know where each member of your team lives. So either you lower your weapon or I have my men attack them. What will it be?" the man asked as his eyes pierced hers.

Lisbon let out the breath that she didn't know she was holding and lowered her weapon.

"Good. Now place it on the ground and walk away from it," the voice instructed.

Lisbon did as she was told. The man nodded and headed over to her gun, picked it up and then placed it in the pocket of his hoodie.

"Who are you?" Lisbon asked furiously.

"If you want your team and especially Mr. Jane to survive, then you will listen to me closely," the man stated.

Lisbon just stared at him. The man nodded and then proceeded.

"I want you to give me everything related to the Davis Lane case. Police reports, court room testimony, and anything that you left out of your inquiry with the SFPD," the man instructed.

"Anything else?" Lisbon asked sarcastically.

"All in good time; I will call in a day with a meeting time. By then you better have the items I requested or there will be consequences," the man stated sternly.

"What do I call you? I'm thinking you aren't going to respond to asshole," Lisbon snarled.

"I guess you could call me Michael Lane….brother of Davis Lane."


	6. Webs we weave

5. WEBS WE WEAVE

Lisbon stood there in shock as Michael Lane walked away from her. When her mind finally registered that she was alone in the factory, she pulled out her cell phone and called each and every member of her team to check and make sure nothing had happened. After making an excuse to Jane, she hung up the phone and headed towards her car.

She sat in her car and looked over the case file from SFPD; there had been no indication that Davis Lane had a brother. Closing the file, she leaned her head back against the seat. She already had the SFPD file, but the ones from the trial were going to be harder to get. She checked the time on the dashboard; it was still early, which meant the courthouse wasn't open. Knowing what she had to do she turned on the engine and pulled out of the factory's parking lot.

Jane had been dozing on his leather couch as he listened to Cho and Rigsby talk about the game that was on the night before. The latest case had been closed after the roommate confessed to the killing of Kyle within minutes of Cho interrogating him, so they were basically just fooling around during that which had been thus far a quiet morning. Until, at some point, after the sports talk was over, their focus turned to Jane.

"So, are you going to tell us why she hit you?" Rigsby asked from his desk.

Jane didn't respond to his question.

"You pissed her off somehow or pissed off some bigwig who caused her to fix the problem, right?" Rigsby pushed on. "What do you think Cho?"

"None of my business," Cho replied as he pulled out his book and began to read. Jane couldn't help but smile as he rose from the couch.

"I'm going to go have some tea," he stated as he made his way to the kitchen.

Jane knew exactly why Lisbon had punched him, but he wasn't ready to reveal the reason to the team because he wasn't certain himself what was going on. He had spent the morning making calls to the SFPD for more information on the case, but he kept getting transferred to other departments. One person had even suggested that it wasn't important since the case had been closed.

As he finished making his tea he saw Van Pelt heading towards the bullpen. She gave him a quick smile before making her entrance to meet the boys. He grabbed his tea cup and headed towards them.

"So where is the boss?" Van Pelt asked as Jane joined the group.

"Taking a few personal days, but that is all we know," Rigsby stated with a smile at the sight of Van Pelt being back.

"Did something happen with one of her brothers?" Van Pelt asked as she sat down at her desk.

"Not that we know of," Cho stated as he started to read his book again. Jane sat down on his couch again when he noticed Van Pelt was looking at him.

"Do you know what is going on?" Van Pelt asked him, straight to the point.

"Why would I know?" He asked indifferent, quick at hiding any kind of reaction.

"I thought she might have talked to you," Van Pelt stated.

"Haven't talked to her in days," Jane replied.

It was a lie, but until he knew more he didn't want to include the team, not before he knew exactly what was happening. Getting tired of just sitting and listening to the team, Jane got up and headed towards the elevators.

"Where are you going?" Van Pelt asked as he walked past her. Jane stopped and turned around.

"A mid-afternoon stroll," he replied before leaving.

Jane headed towards his car; he had decided he would drive by her place just to make sure she was doing okay. There was really no harm in checking up on a good friend, was there?

* * *

><p>After three hours of calling several different people and lying through her teeth to them, Lisbon now had the records from the court case that involved Davis Lane. The incident had gone to trial when Davis Lane's grandmother had tried to sue the department for killing her grandson. It didn't take long for the case to go through trial and in the end the department had won and all matters had been dropped.<p>

She now only had one more place to go before she could head back to her place and wait for the call from Michael Lane. She needed to know if Bosco had any more information on the case. Hoping that Mandy Bosco might have some of the paperwork left or notes that Sam had never given to the SFPD, she decided to make a visit. But in order to do that, she needed to head by her place and look up the address.

Entering her apartment quickly, she headed over to the side table and found her address book. She wrote down the address and headed back out the door. Meanwhile, Jane was just pulling into the parking area when he noticed her pulling out. Wondering where she could possibly be heading, he started to follow her.

They had been driving for a while when Lisbon pulled into a small neighborhood. Pulling back a little more than needed, he watched as she pulled into the driveway of a nicely decorated house. He pulled his car to the side of the street a few houses down and watched as she walked over to the door.

"Interesting…" he muttered to himself.

"Teresa?" Mandy said as soon as she opened the door. "Oh my God it's been so long since we last saw each other, I think the last time was…"

Lisbon watched as her expression darkened. Hers saddened as well, as she nodded significantly.

"At the funeral, yes," she confirmed in a low voice.

"Well, please, come in," Mandy said awkwardly, making way for her to pass.

"Thanks, Mandy," Lisbon walked past her, taking a look at the pictures of the couple, which decorated the hall.

"Would you like some coffee?" Mandy offered, waving towards the living room as an offer for Lisbon to sit. "I've just made some."

"Please," Lisbon smiled, walking into the well-lit living room.

"Make yourself at home, Teresa."

Everything looked exactly like it had the only time Lisbon had been there, which had been when the Bosco family had just moved into Sacramento. It had been an awkward visit; Mandy had insisted on inviting her to dinner, just to show how much she wasn't bothered by the fact that she and her husband had worked together for a long time and that he obviously cared a lot more about her than a co-worker normally would. But whenever the two met, it was always awkward, because, as much as both attempted to seem natural and kind to each other, everyone, especially Sam, knew that there was a big elephant in the room, which none of the three was going to address.

And at that moment Lisbon felt sorry for all that, and especially for the fact that Mandy didn't seem to have moved on an inch after Sam's death. In fact, she seemed lo live as though he was still alive. That, however, gave her hope that she would have left his office untouched, and that was where anything on the case could be found.

"Here it is," Mandy came in, handing Lisbon a mug with coffee.

"Thank you," Lisbon said politely, falling back into their usual, awkward exchange.

Both women sat on couches, facing each other. Lisbon noticed Mandy was analyzing her as they drank from their mugs.

"Well," Lisbon broke the silence. "You're probably wondering why I'm here, Mandy, so let me cut right to the chase. I was wondering if Sam kept any material from the cases we investigated back in San Francisco."

Mandy hesitated for a moment. She clearly didn't like the mention of all those years during which she had suffered knowing her husband spent more time with the woman he actually loved than with the woman he was married to. Lisbon swallowed, waiting for a reply. Mandy took a deep breath.

"I'm not sure," was her answer. "Maybe he did, but I can't be sure."

"Do you…" Lisbon started cautiously, "still keep the stuff he had in his office?"

With watering eyes, Mandy nodded.

"Yes, all of it," she replied instantly.

"Do you mind if I… if I take a look? It's just something that might be connected to a case I'm investigating now…"

Mandy nodded quickly, fighting tears. She put her mug down on the coffee table, which Lisbon imitated, and stood up to go to the office. Lisbon followed. Without another word, Mandy opened the door and let Lisbon into the small room, which was as disorganized as Bosco's office back in SFPD used to be, Lisbon remembered nostalgically. Mandy closed the door and left, which Lisbon was thankful for as she immediately started going through drawers.

An hour later Lisbon had a splitting migraine and had only found a few notes related to the case but nothing that helped her gather more information. Finally giving up, she opened the door and headed towards the living room.

"Did you find what you were looking for?" Mandy asked as Lisbon entered the room.

"Hmmm…not exactly. But thanks," Lisbon started as Mandy headed towards the front door.

"Well if you need anything else please stop by," Mandy stated hesitantly. Lisbon nodded and walked towards her car.

Jane watched as Lisbon pulled out of the driveway and headed away from the house. He then started his car and pulled into the exact same spot where Lisbon's car had just been parked in. He exited his car and headed towards the door. There was only one person Jane could think of that would live here; he pressed the doorbell and waited.

"Yes?" Mandy asked as she opened the door. Jane gave her a quick smile.

"My name is Patrick Jane, I worked a case with your husband," Jane responded.

He saw it as she recognized his name.

"I know who you are. Sam despised you," Mandy said bluntly.

"Hmm. Well I do seem to have that effect on some people," he replied.

"What is it you want, Mr. Jane?" Mandy asked with annoyance. "Agent Lisbon was just here, what else do you need?"

"Oh yes, that's why I'm here; why _did_ she come here?" He asked.

Mandy stared at him for a moment wondering if she should answer his question.

"She wanted to know if Sam had kept any paperwork from an old case," Mandy replied as she motioned for Jane to enter the house.

"Did she find anything?" Jane asked as he followed her into the living room.

"Not that I know of; are you _not_ working the case with her?" Mandy asked as she sat down, looking puzzled.

"I'm trying to help her out," Jane explained. "But with Lisbon… I can't tell her I'm helping her, otherwise she won't accept my help."

Mandy nodded awkwardly.

"Do you mind if I look through his office?" Jane asked after a few moments of silence.

"Do you think she could have missed something?" Mandy asked curiously.

"No, but I would still like to check," Jane responded quietly.

Mandy nodded and showed him the way to the office. Jane gave her a quick nod before she closed the door and left him.

If Lisbon hadn't found anything then he was certain that he wasn't going to find anything either, but for her sake he would make sure. After about a half hour, the only thing Jane could find were notes on how much of a pain in the ass he was and how he wished he could get him kicked out of the CBI or worst. Jane couldn't help but grin at the comments Bosco made. A knock on the door brought him back to reality.

"Mr. Jane, I need to go, so, if you don't mind leaving…" Mandy requested as she opened the door.

Jane nodded and followed her towards the front door.

"Did you have any better luck?" Mandy asked as she opened the door.

Jane shook his head and walked out the door. He stopped just outside and turned around.

"For what it is worth, your husband was a good man," Jane spoke softly.

He noticed Mandy's eyes starting to glisten as she closed the door behind her. He took a deep breath and headed towards the driveway.

"Following me?" Lisbon asked from the driver's side door, making Jane jump.


	7. Like a prisoner

6. LIKE A PRISONER

She was standing right next to his car, with her arms crossed, tapping her left foot while she waited for an explanation. He started to stutter one, but she stopped him with a wave of her hand.

"Don't," she commanded. "We'll talk later. I'm sorry, Mandy. I'm sorry he came here to bother you."

"That's ok," Mandy replied, somewhat surprised she had been addressed at that moment.

Sam Bosco's widow had been watching with some kind of uncanny amusement, and she took Lisbon's apology as a hint to go wherever she had meant to go when she told Jane he needed to leave. What both didn't know was that Mandy was thinking of how much that had looked like a married couple's exchange, and that she found a great deal of comfort in the fact that, clearly, Lisbon couldn't have returned her late husband's feelings, seeing as she was already in love with somebody else.

As soon as she was gone, though, Lisbon could not leave any of that for later. She pulled Jane by his arm, forcing him to take a step closer to her, and started hissing at him, afraid to talk too loudly.

"What the hell are you thinking? You need to stay away from this!"

"Why?" he demanded to know. "What _is_ going on? You know I won't rest until I find out."

"Jane," she said, forcing her voice to come out as calm as possible with a deep breath. "If I told you my life depended on you staying away from this, would you stay away?"

She saw Jane's eyes grow wider, and he lowered his head to take a better look at her face.

"What do you mean your life depends on it?" he asked, ready to study her reaction.

"Answer my question," she said firmly. "Would you stay away if you knew it was the only way of keeping me alive?"

As she looked intently into his eyes, hers started to water ever so slightly, and Jane knew that, whatever was going on, it was not her life which was in danger, but the life of someone she cared deeply about. That, however, only made him want to help her even more. He took a deep breath, taking a step back from her.

"Yes," he said, "of course I would."

His answer was nothing but heartfelt; he would do whatever was necessary to save her life. He judged it better, though, to leave out the little detail that he knew that not to be the case, which rendered his promise useless. She nodded, taking in the sincerity of his answer and doing her best to believe he would forget about all that from now on. She then turned around and walked slowly back to her car, throwing one last look in his direction when she shut the driver's side door and started the car.

Jane waited for about a minute to leave in the same direction her car had headed.

* * *

><p>"There you are," Van Pelt said enthusiastically. "Now that Lisbon is away you just disappear, don't you?"<p>

Jane shrugged.

"No one to shout at me if I do, are you going to shout at me, Grace?"

She smiled, shaking her head.

"I think I know what he's doing," Cho said, still looking at his computer attentively.

"What who's doing?" Rigsby came into the bullpen asking, with a half-eaten donut in hand.

"Jane, when he disappears," Van Pelt clarified.

"So what is it?" Jane challenged.

"You're looking into the bomb in Lisbon's car," Cho answered with confidence. "We had to drop the case for lack of evidence, but you couldn't stop looking."

"Why didn't you tell us, man?" Rigsby asked. "We would've helped you."

"I confess I tried," Jane hedged, "but there was nothing to look. Whoever did this disappeared without a trace."

"Like you'd be satisfied with that," Van Pelt doubted.

"I'm not," Jane shrugged again. "But I just couldn't find anything to go on. Lisbon doesn't know anything either. The only thing left for us to do is to wait and see if this son of a bitch is going to try again. And hope to catch him before he manages to do anything."

Jane hoped the team would be satisfied with his excuses; he was now sure that, whoever had attempted against Lisbon's life, had also hurt Van Pelt to make a point, and now Lisbon was scared he could try to kill whoever tried to help her find out who he was. So it was safer to have the team stay away from it.

As soon as he could "disappear" again, he would go check up on her. He had followed her to her place, but he had to make sure she was still there and that she was fine.

* * *

><p>After going to the Boscos' residence, Lisbon decided to go home. She felt exhausted, and didn't really know where to go or what to do. She also didn't know what Michael Lane would ask of her next, or what he would do next. She felt like a prisoner in her own mind, waiting for her captor's next command. And maybe this prison was even worse than being locked somewhere; she wanted badly to cry, because she realized she couldn't find peace with all that was happening, and that nothing was more important in life than finding peace. Without peace, you could never rest, you could never even sleep at night.<p>

The sun was fading when the ringing of her cell phone brought her back from her thoughts, and she instantly started shaking when she saw the unidentified number on the display.

"Hello," she answered, her voice almost failing her.

"Teresa, you need to get him out of the way, do you understand? Otherwise I'll have to do it myself."

"No!" she begged, almost crying with despair, but she heard it as the line went silent.

He was gone. And she couldn't know for sure that Jane was going to stay out of it. She couldn't bet his life on it. She couldn't risk having Lane kill him because of her. But what could she do? She had spent too many nights trying to think of plans that would help her get rid of this man, that would have him end up in jail like the criminal he was, but she felt that her hands were tied at the moment, and she couldn't even tell anyone about it, because Lane would know, and he would do something about it. He could have killed Van Pelt, she knew that; the only reason her colleague was still alive was because Lane had only meant it as a warning. The next time he did something like that, the target would not survive.

Lisbon realized she was sitting on the floor, with her head resting in her hands, crying. The only time she could remember feeling this lost was when she was just a kid, and her mother had just died, and her father had given up.

And then the bell rang, making her jump.

Her first reaction was to pray it wasn't Lane. Or that it was. Maybe she could surprise him and disarm him, maybe she could turn the whole game around. He would sense a gun, but maybe he wouldn't sense a pocket knife – so she took the one she had once apprehended from Tommy after he had gotten involved in a fight at school and tried to use it. She still had it; who knew it would ever come in handy? She hid it in her sweatshirt's sleeve and approached the door cautiously, drying her eyes with a rough movement of her other arm.

Lisbon decided it was dangerous to stand in front of the door to check the peephole, so she just approached enough to unlock the door and let it swing open, and prepared herself to use the knife against her visitor. She was shaking, but she had no difficulty slipping the knife from her sleeve to her hand and opening it, and when the silhouette of a man stepped into the apartment, she jumped in his direction with the knife at the ready.

"Lisbon!" Jane yelled, hiding behind his left arm, which ended up on the way of Tommy's pocked knife.

When Lisbon realized what had happened, she broke down again. Jane closed the door behind him, then held his arm to stop the bleeding, still unsure of the extent of the injury, but not really in pain probably due to the adrenalin of the scare. He approached her.

"Lisbon, what's going on?"

"What are you doing here, Jane?" she asked amongst her tears. "Go away!"

Letting go of his arm, he held both her shoulders, looking around. The place was a mess, she had circles under her eyes, which were red, and her face was swollen from crying. He felt a sudden urge to protect her, to hold her, and he did so. Too weak to fight, Lisbon simply fell into his arms and cried a little against his chest. Until, a moment later, she dried her tears, coming out of his embrace, and seemed to regain control of herself.

"Let's get that bandaged," she said, businesslike.

As they sat in her kitchen, while Lisbon took care of the wound she had inflicted on him, Jane studied her. He had never seen her so emotionally unstable. The cut wasn't deep, it was just a scratch. But it had stained his shirt and suit jacket, which had been removed to make it easier to clean the cut. They were in silence for a long time, but it wasn't awkward. In fact, Lisbon seemed grateful for not having to talk and for having something to put her mind into for the moment. She was the first to speak, though, when she finished bandaging.

"There you go. Now tell me, what are you doing here?"

Jane looked at her for a moment without answering, as he put his shirt, vest and jacket back on.

"Just checking if you're ok, of course," he said, in a matter-of-fact voice.

"Why?"

"Because there is someone trying to kill you. Someone who put a bomb in your car."

She sighed.

"Someone who tried to kill Van Pelt when she seemed to have a lead on…" Jane was interrupted by Lisbon's hand against his mouth.

"Shhhhhhhhhh!" she hissed, then whispered. "Shut up, for God's sake…"

Lisbon was pleading, and Jane had never seen her so desperate. He shook his head.

"Let me help you," he whispered back.

"The only way you can help me is staying away from me and from all this," she stated, still whispering. "I'm begging you, again…"

They were very close, and Jane felt the urge to hold her again. He wanted to remove that angst from her features, that pain from her eyes. Then her phone rang, making both jump in place and her eyes widen. The next thing Jane knew, she was running for it, and he started running as well. She clearly wanted him not to see who the caller was, so he jumped next to her and they got into a physical fight for the phone.

"Jane, stop!" she asked, but he ended up with the phone.

Seeing as it was an unidentified number, there was nothing else left for him to do but answer.

"Hello?"

"No!" Lisbon shouted, jumping him for the phone.

Both fell to the ground in struggle, and Lisbon managed to have her phone back. She was lying on top of Jane and holding both his arms together with one hand when she was able to bring the phone to her ear. But then, she noticed the call had already ended.

"What did he say?" she asked.

"Nothing," Jane said, struggling to free himself. "He said nothing! Who's he?"

"None of your business," she said, letting go of him and starting to get up.

"Wait a minute!" Jane demanded, pulling her by her arm and making her stay with him on the floor. "Who's this guy? Is he the one trying to kill you? Why does he make you so nervous?"

"You're an idiot!" she said, fighting tears. "Why did you have to pick it up?"

She was shaking almost out of control now, and, not knowing what else to do, Jane tried restraining her in his arms.

"Nothing's gonna happen," he tried to calm her down, realizing she was now worried about him. "It's gonna be okay, we'll figure it all out…"

Exhausted, Lisbon let herself fall back into Jane's embrace, as he did what he could to soothe her and calm her down, by stroking her back with one hand and her scalp amongst her hair with the other, as he said comforting words which she pretended to believe in just for a moment, just for a little while, until she ended up falling asleep.

Jane awoke with a sense of coldness around his body, like something was missing. He quickly recognized his surroundings, as memories of the previous night came back to him. He remembered watching Lisbon fall asleep in his arms, her whole body slowly letting go and becoming heavier against him as she relaxed. But he never noticed himself becoming sleepy after that.

"Lisbon!" he called out as he got to his feet.

Only silence greeted his ears. Shaking his head, he looked around the living room. He found her phone under the table; the display said it was nine AM. He looked everywhere for her keys, but they were gone. He opened the front door and saw that her car was gone as well. Cussing to himself, he entered the apartment again, with his hands on his head, trying to understand why he hadn't woken up when she had, how he had let her leave, and now he had no idea where she was. He started searching everywhere for any clues on where she might have gone.

He knew she had left to go after the man who had called the night before, he just didn't know where; until he did. Of course. How had he not thought of that before? What a better place to meet the man who was trying to kill her than that one? He didn't spend another minute thinking; he left for his car and, as soon as he had put it into drive, he pulled out his phone and dialed Cho, who picked up on the first ring.

"Cho, listen to me. I think Lisbon is in trouble," Jane grinded through his teeth as he sped through traffic.

"What?" Cho asked.

"I can't explain why or even how but I need you to have a team at the old factory where her car blew up," Jane growled as he pushed his foot harder down on the pedal.

"We're on it. And Jane, don't do anything…" Jane snapped his phone closed before Cho could finish.

He knew he was pushing his luck by speeding, but at this point he would be more than happy to pay a damn speeding ticket instead of having something bad happen to Lisbon. Only a few minutes had gone by when Jane pulled into the empty lot and looked toward the building.


	8. Don't look

7. DON'T LOOK

CBI and police cars surrounded the abandoned factory. Cho got out of the car, leading the rest of the agents to do the same. A few seconds later, they were all making their entrance in the building, but after searching for minutes, the only person they found was Jane, lying on the floor with a pool of blood under him.

"Jane!" Cho yelled. "We need a medic here, now!"

He kneeled next to his colleague to check for vital signs. Jane was breathing slowly, and he opened his eyes a little when Cho touched him.

"Jane, what happened?" he asked.

"She shot me," Jane said, as though in a trance.

"Who?" he asked, then lowered his voice so that no one else could hear. "Lisbon?"

Jane didn't answer, and at that moment Rigsby and Van Pelt approached to take a look.

"How is he?" Van Pelt asked, concerned.

"Shot in the shoulder," Cho answered, businesslike. "He'll live. No sign of Lisbon?"

"No sign," Rigsby confirmed.

The paramedics arrived then, and the three CBI agents watched as Jane was taken in an ambulance.

"Who shot him?" Van Pelt asked.

Cho gave her a look that made her eyes widen.

"Ballistics will confirm," he argued against the doubt in her eyes. "But he told me."

Van Pelt looked at Rigsby with a pleading expression, as if begging him to contradict that, but he just shook his head and looked down.

* * *

><p>There was a white mist surrounding him but he felt no cold. If anything, he felt nice and warm and very relaxed. The mist was starting to dissipate as he became aware of his surroundings. A distant sound of beeping was getting a little louder as he started to feel the warmness wearing off.<p>

"Mr. Jane," a voice asked in the distance.

Jane struggled to ignore that voice, preferring to fall back into the happy place where he had been moments ago.

"He should be coming out of it at any time," the same voice stated above him. "If you need anything, just have one of the nurses page me."

"Thank you, doctor," another voice replied.

Jane knew that second voice; it belonged to Cho. Slowly, everything came back to him.

"Lisbon!" he called, opening his eyes and trying to sit up, but Cho pushed him down.

"You need to stay still," Cho demanded as Jane's vision started to clear up.

"Where is Lisbon?" Jane asked, irritated as he lay back against the pillows.

"We haven't found her yet. Rigsby and Van Pelt are working with the FBI, trying to find her," Cho informed as he sat down on the chair next to the bed.

"You have been out for a few hours, but the good news is there is no major damage to your left shoulder," he continued explaining.

Jane nodded and looked down at his shoulder. She had shot him; she had really shot him.

"You should be fine in a few weeks, but will need physical therapy," he went on, and Jane groaned to himself at the thought of physical therapy.

"You said she shot you, who?" Cho asked.

Jane looked at him, still not wanting to believe that Lisbon had actually shot him.

"Did Lisbon say anything to you after she shot you?" Cho asked, clearly wanting to leave no doubt that he knew.

"She asked me to forgive her," Jane answered, his voice strained.

Cho nodded and got up from the chair.

"Where are you going?" Jane asked as he watched Cho heading towards the door.

"To help find Lisbon," Cho answered.

"I'm coming with you," Jane announced as he started to get up from the bed.

"You need to rest, I will let you know what we find out," Cho said sternly as he opened the door.

A guard nodded to him and he nodded back, then he gave one more look to Jane before speaking. "Make sure he doesn't leave this room."

Jane cussed himself out as he laid back down. He knew he wouldn't be allowed to leave the room but he also knew he needed to find answers in order to find Lisbon. He slowly made his way out of bed and headed towards the closet to grab his clothes. There was nothing in there but a set of pants. It dawned on him that, more than likely, the rest of his suit was torn by the medical team in order to work on him. He would make sure that Lisbon paid for that, because, by far, that used to be his favorite suit.

"You should be in bed" a female voice startled Jane.

He turned around to notice a stern looking nurse. He gave her a smile.

"Nice try; I have sons that can do that smile and it doesn't work. So either you get back in bed or I will force you back into it," the nurse lectured.

Jane smiled as he made his way back to the bed, and the nurse nodded in approval. Jane rolled his eyes as she left. One thing was for certain and that was he wasn't leaving this room any time soon.

* * *

><p>A sigh, with joy, escaped his lips, as he felt the light touch amongst his hair, the coldish fingers touching his scalp, carefully. His sigh scared the hand away, though, and the suddenness of its removal woke him up.<p>

"Lisbon," he said, even before he saw her, as he sat up on the bed.

Her green eyes were unmistakable, even in the dark. They were scared.

"You weren't supposed to wake up," she said, very quickly and in a low voice. "I just wanted to make sure you were okay. I'm sorry I shot you."

"Does anybody know you're here?" Jane asked anxiously. "They were looking for you, working with the FBI and everything."

"Jane, listen to me," she said, approaching him and lowering her voice, in a very serious tone. "They can't know I came here. No one can know. As far as you know I'm still gone."

"Why?" Jane asked, exasperated, trying to make sense of what was happening.

"Guess what, Jane?" she asked, irritated. "I can't tell you!"

She buried her face in her hands, shaking her head. Then, with a sigh, she looked at him again, a finger poised in front of her.

"Jane, you have to promise you won't tell anyone I was here."

"What's going on, Lisbon?" Jane wanted to know.

"Damn it, Jane!" she scolded. "Do you trust me?"

"Of course I trust you," Jane replied, looking deeply into her eyes.

"Then just promise already!" she demanded.

"All right, I promise," Jane said, albeit still dissatisfied.

"Now promise you won't look for me."

Jane laughed, shaking his head, making Lisbon shake hers in defeat. Then, she approached him more, and took his face between her hands, which caused him to give her a surprised look, and she could see his mind wondering what she would do next. That was unexpectedly enjoyable.

"I'm saying please," she tried, anyway, and approached his face slowly, feeling his muscles tense just inches apart from her.

She gave him a kiss on his forehead and left. He was still awake hours later, wondering if that had really happened, or if it had been a dream.

* * *

><p>Jane stared at the TV that was hanging from the wall. There was a press conference informing the public that Lisbon was missing. Jane watched as Brenda spoke to the press about her and how they were going to offer a reward to any information that led to her safe return. Jane grabbed the remote and turned the TV off in frustration, thinking that he needed to leave that hospital as soon as possible if he was going to find Lisbon. However, that wasn't going to be easy. Always proud of being on top of his game, he couldn't even be sure he had or had not seen Lisbon the night before. He blamed the painkillers; they would certainly make it unclear whether that was a real memory or a dream, but could they have made him hallucinate like that?<p>

Either way, he had to come up with a plan to find her. The fact that she had been to the hospital to see him, if she really had, didn't mean she was safe; if anything, it even made him more worried. Maybe she had wanted to see him one last time before… he couldn't even think. He remembered Lisbon's hopeless expression as she had asked him not to look for her. She knew it better than anyone that her request would never be granted.

At that moment, the door opened. As an orderly walked in, Jane could see through the opening that the guard's seat was empty; then he knew that was his chance, he had to leave now or never. Jane smirked to himself as he had an idea, and called over the orderly.

"What is your name?" he asked.

"Don," the young man replied with a kind smile.

Jane looked him in the eyes and started to talk softly to him, first about the weather, then about the violence in the city these days, until, without the young man noticing, he was putting him into a trance. After a few minutes, the orderly was helping Jane dress into the clothes that he had just been wearing. Jane smiled as he put on his gown and took his place on the bed. With one last look, Jane placed the hat on his head, grabbed the trash bag, and walked out of the room with no one stopping him.

First, he made it back to his long stay hotel room and found a change of clothes. It took an extreme amount of patience for him to get dressed; the wrapping on his shoulder caused him trouble and the pain alone was making the task even worse. He had just left the hotel and was calling a taxi when his phone rang. He looked at the caller ID and noticed that Van Pelt was the one calling. He sighed to himself, then answered.

"You weren't supposed to leave the hospital," Van Pelt lectured.

"I wasn't about to sit around and do nothing while Lisbon is missing," Jane stated as he entered the cab.

"Where are you?" Van Pelt asked.

"I'm checking out my own leads," Jane answered before he covered the phone and gave the driver directions.

"Jane, we are doing everything we can to find her," Van Pelt explained.

Jane closed his eyes and rested his head against the seat before speaking.

"Grace, I need to find her," where his words, which he took from the bottom of his heart.

"Just be careful," Van Pelt whispered as she hung up the phone.

Not much longer after that, Jane arrived at Lisbon's apartment complex. After paying the taxi driver, he headed towards her door and was about to pick the lock when it swung open, revealing a very annoyed Cho.

"Van Pelt said you left the hospital," he stated as he motioned Jane to enter.

As an answer, Jane just shrugged his shoulders.

"The head nurse said that there was an orderly in your bed when she went to check on you," he continued.

Jane ignored him while he looked around the apartment.

"You put him in a trance, didn't you?" Cho asked.

"It was for a good cause," Jane responded with a wry smile; Lisbon was always the person to complain about hypnotism. It was quite amusing how Cho tried to play her role when she was absent.

Cho studied him for a moment.

"How did you know Lisbon was going to the factory?" the senior agent asked.

"I just knew," Jane said with a matter-of-fact voice.

"That isn't a good enough answer."

Jane didn't want to waste his time telling the whole story to Cho; he didn't even feel like he should do so. Lisbon had obviously been worried about what might happen to him and the team if they found something out, and maybe there was still reason to worry. What he needed now was to search the apartment for any new clues; if she had found the time to visit him in the hospital, maybe she had been to her apartment.

"What are you looking for?" Cho wanted to know.

"I don't know," was Jane's truthful answer.

The only thing that seemed to be different in the apartment in comparison to the night before was that it had obviously been searched. Jane wondered if the CBI and the FBI had found something useful without knowing it was relevant.

"Do you know what this means?" Cho asked, making Jane stop searching and look at him for the first time.

"What what means?" he asked.

Cho approached, bringing an evidence bag with a note inside. It said _Keep him away or else_. Jane understood instantly that he was the one referred to by "him".

"I have no idea what it means," he lied. "Where was it?"

"Inside a CD case," Cho informed.

"Which CD?"

Cho showed him the Spice Girls CD, wondering what could be the importance of knowing which CD, but not hesitating to do as he had been asked. Jane concluded silently that Lisbon had left that as a message to him. Maybe for him to stay away, because that "or else" could mean harm to him or to her. He remembered her expression as she said "please". He sighed, but there was really nothing else that he could do.

"I'm not feeling so well," he said to Cho, "I think I'm going to head back to the hospital."

He left the apartment knowing that Cho had not believed him, and he was already thinking of how he could get away from him. That was when his phone rang, and the display showed a number Jane didn't recognize.

"Hello?" he answered hesitantly.

"Mr. Jane?" said a hoarse male voice on the other end. "This is Christopher Boyle. I think I can help you find Agent Lisbon."


	9. Change of plans

8. CHANGE OF PLANS

There was a distant thudding that aroused Lisbon from her sleep. Slowly opening her eyes, she noticed she was laying on top of something or, in this case, someone. Pulling back a little, she noticed that Jane was fast asleep. Some time during the night, she thought, he must have fallen asleep holding her. As she studied his face, she found that, for first time since she had met him, he actually looked very peaceful.

She could more than happily lay her head back down on his chest and go back to sleep, she had been so comfortable in his arms. But then the situation came flooding back into her mind; as slowly as possible, she disentangled herself from his arms and rose to her feet. She watched as Jane mumbled something in his sleep and then rolled on his side. If she wasn't so afraid of waking him she would have laughed straight out about the entire scene.

It was then that realization slowly started to hit her, beginning with a name that suddenly came into her mind: _Christopher Boyle_. And then his alias, Walter Richards. As she thought of that second name, an accompanying face appeared in her memory, pulling the mail cart from office to office at the CBI. The new guy, who had substituted the one she used to find quite attractive. Richards had been working at the CBI for about a month or two now, she remembered.

She ran towards her purse, where she had put Bosco's notes the day before; there it was. Christopher Boyle, also known as his main alias, Walter Richards, suspected of helping Davis Lane kidnap his victims. No proof had ever been found though, not even enough to hold him for questioning. Which was probably the reason why Michael Lane was using him now; they never even knew he had been suspected of anything.

Lisbon hated herself for not having recognized him as the new mail guy, even though she had only seen him in his DMV picture; but it was him, it was clear now. And that was it, that was how she would have a chance of turning the table. She knew something they didn't, and she was going to do something about it. It was a good thing Jane was still asleep as well; now, that she saw a way out of it all, she needed him to stay away from this more than ever.

With as little sound as possible, she headed to her side table, reached under it and ripped off the tape that held one of her backup guns. With one last look at Jane, she grabbed the knife and her keys and headed out the apartment determined to finish what Michael Lane had started.

* * *

><p>It was her gut that told her that Lane could be in the factory. It was that undeniable, unexplainable cop's instinct. Maybe he had called to arrange a rendezvous the night before; maybe he was just checking in on her, and had ended up finding out she'd had a visitor. Whatever he had called her for, she figured he might be expecting her at the factory, probably expecting her to be desperate after he had heard Jane's voice on the phone, desperate trying to find a way to make him spare her colleague's life. He had already noticed how much Jane mattered to her. And that was exactly what Lane was going to get; she was going to beg for Jane's life.<p>

Lisbon parked her car and got out of it, walking slowly toward the entrance to the factory. The sun was very hot against her skin, but nervousness was just as much responsible for her sweating. She could hear the sound of her heart pounding and her lungs filling with air then releasing it as though these were the loudest sounds in the world. It was difficult to listen for anything else. She swallowed and took a long, deep breath, telling herself, _keep it together_.

In the inside, the building looked deserted, of course. She checked every corner, pointing her gun at invisible threats at every turn. When she found none, she headed for the stairs, and went up a flight. Then she started again; she walked slowly, inspecting every inch of the second floor. Until she felt his presence. He didn't even need to speak to make himself known anymore, and when he did, she wasn't startled. Not any more than she had been since she had entered the building, anyway.

"Hello there, my friend," Lane said, in a soft voice.

It had sounded like he was smiling, and Lisbon knew she was right when she slowly turned around to face him. If she hadn't known him or his intentions to do her harm, she would have thought that was a warm smile, coming from someone acting friendly. Or maybe her gut would have told her differently. He was standing next to a window, and the sunlight coming through it made him stand out eerily in the otherwise darkened room.

"Hello," she answered, trying to keep her voice firm.

"So, what brings you here?" Lane asked, letting his smile fade a little.

She remembered how terrified she had been when Jane had picked up her phone the night before. And how worried he had seemed about her. And how he had held her through the night, trying to convince her everything was going to be all right. She felt moisture around her eyes.

"I need… I need to ask you something," she said, hesitantly.

"Yes, my dear?" Lane smiled widely. It was clear he was enjoying himself in the pain she was expressing.

"I think you know what it is," she raised her eyebrows, as if to try to stop a tear that tried to escape her eye.

"Does it have anything to do with our friend Patrick Jane?"

She swallowed, then nodded twice, very slowly, never taking her eyes off of him.

"I know he's too close," she said, begging. "That's how he is. If he realizes how much I want him not to do something, that makes him want to do it even more. But I can keep him away. He knows nothing concrete."

Lane nodded, with a smile and an understanding expression as he looked out the window. Then he looked at her again, tilting his head to the side and shrugging.

"I'm sorry, Teresa, but I'm afraid that it's too late."

"It's not," she said, tears now streaming down her face. "I've brought you everything I could get my hands on. You should be able to pursue your brother's case, and you can finish your revenge now, by killing me. I'm here, let's finish this. Just shoot me."

A weird laugh escaped Lane's mouth then. When he was able to stop, he approached Lisbon, still wearing a huge smile.

"See?" he said, smirking. "I told you you'd wind up begging for me to kill you."

Lisbon couldn't help but scowl at him. But that was a good thing; it was her natural reaction to the point Lane had wanted to make, and she wouldn't want to make him suspicious. Because he had no idea that she actually had the upper hand.

He didn't know that she had just paid a visit to a friend of his, and that she had threatened to pull some strings in order to make it harder for Christopher Boyle's father to get released for the holidays in December. And, also, that she had found herself forced to take Boyle into her custody and leave him locked in a wardrobe in a cheap motel room, deprived of any means of communication. If Boyle managed to escape, it wouldn't be a problem. She didn't need that much time. Or at least she had thought so.

"But what I meant," Lane went on, "was that it was too late now. Your friend has just parked his car outside and entered the building. We'll have to deal with him now."

Lisbon watched her plan fall apart, right before her eyes.

"Let me talk to him, please" Lisbon begged.

"Sure," Lane replied. "But you should know that I'm going to kill him."

"NO!" Lisbon screamed. Lane studied her for a brief moment before a smile crept on his lips.

"I promise I won't kill him," Lane stated with an even bigger smile. Lisbon said a silent prayer before she forced her eyes to meet Lane's. "Instead I'm going to have _you_ shoot him."

"What?" Lisbon asked, shocked.

"In order to save Mr. Jane's life, you will shoot him and come with me. If not, then I will kill him," Lane explained.

"What do you need me for?" Lisbon asked hoarsely.

"Collateral," Lane answered, a little too quickly and shrugging in a weird way.

Lisbon heard Jane open the door and scream her name.

"Deal," Lisbon whispered, not believing that this was happening.

Lane nodded before he headed towards the back of the room. He motioned to his gun before disappearing into the shadows, leaving her alone. She heard Jane's voice again calling for her. If there was ever a time in which she needed Jane to trust her, it would be now. She forced herself to move into the shadows behind the crates as his footsteps grew louder. Pulling her gun out, she said another silent prayer for not only Jane but also for herself, because it would take a miracle for them to come out of this situation.

* * *

><p>Lane was waiting in the driver's seat of his car with a gun pointed her way when Lisbon came running out of the backdoor of the factory. She quickly slid in, handing him her own gun; the one she had just used to shoot Jane, she remembered, with a sting to her heart. After he put her gun in the back of his jeans, she barely had time to close the door before Lane placed the car into drive and took off. Through the side mirror she watched as the police began to surround the place.<p>

"See, that wasn't too hard," Lane remarked as he drove, way too fast for Lisbon's liking.

She didn't reply; she knew all Lane wanted was to mess with her; he had given up killing Jane just for the pleasure of watching her suffer with the fact that she had been forced to shoot him. That guy was a psycho, and Lisbon started to worry about this apparent obsession he seemed to have developed with her, and especially with putting her through horrible situations.

All of a sudden, the car stopped. Lane turned to Lisbon and, without a word, started fumbling with her belt. She jumped in her seat, unsure of what to do, but she realized he had just found what he was looking for: her handcuffs.

"Relax," he said, sensing her nervousness. "So you were gonna forget to hand me these, huh?"

She didn't say a word. In fact, she had been so worried about Jane that she hadn't even remembered whether she had handcuffs on her or not, neither had she had time to decide on what to give Lane upon surrendering or not.

"To the backseat," Lane ordered, getting out of the car.

Lisbon obeyed. Lane reached her in the backseat and handcuffed her, then put a black cloth bag over her head, covering her face. Neither of them said a word in the process. Then Lisbon heard it as he closed the door and then got back to the driver's seat. In a few seconds, they were driving fast again.

"Where are you taking me?" she asked harshly, breaking the silence.

"A quiet little place out of the city," Lane responded.

Lisbon sighed. Of course he wasn't going to tell her the exact location he was heading to. And also, she wasn't really worried about her own safety right now. Even though she had to be safe to be able to make sure Jane was safe. She wondered if the ambulance had already arrived. And what he would tell the team.

"What are you hoping to accomplish?" she asked impatiently, then warned. "Any harm to a state agent will result in jail time."

"I don't plan to go to jail," Lane laughed strangely.

Lisbon knew at that moment that Lane didn't care who he hurt, because he himself wasn't planning on surviving this whole ordeal. It made her even more scared; maybe he wasn't even going to pursue his brother's case anymore. He seemed to be getting crazier and more dangerous by the minute. And yet, if she and everyone she cared for were to survive, then she would need to follow along for the time being, she thought with a deep sigh escaping her lips.

And yet… she had to see Jane. All she could think of was Jane's expression as she pulled the trigger. She really hoped that he would trust her and understand there was a reason for her doing that, but she would never forget that look on his face, that was only there for a millisecond: the look of someone who could not believe he was being betrayed by the person he trusted most in. That made her cry silent tears, feeling glad that Lane couldn't really see her face through the rearview mirror.

Until, following an impulse, she decided to ask a question.

"Am I allowed to ask a favor?" she said in a low voice.

"You can ask," Lane replied.

"Let me see Jane…" she said softly. "Just to make sure he's okay."

Lisbon knew she was asking too much and Lane would never grant it. She regretted having asked.

"I think we can arrange that," was his surprising answer, which made Lisbon wonder if that was his madness talking, or if he would remember this later. "But don't mistake what I'm saying. You will get to see him but I will say when and how."

"Thank you," Lisbon said softly, figuring it was better to behave well.

Lisbon felt Lane drive the car onto a dirt road. Wherever they were heading, it was off the beaten path. Lane drove a little further down before he stopped the car and turned off the engine.

"Stay where you are," he stated before he exited the car.

Lisbon did as she was told but tried to pick up on any sound that would allow her to figure out where she was. The door opened and Lisbon felt Lane tug on her arm to get up.

"Can I take this thing off?" she asked. "It's itching."

"No," Lane replied as he placed an arm around her to guide her. It only took a few seconds before he removed his hand. Lisbon heard him close a door and then some scraping on the floor before he spoke again. "Sit down."

Lisbon felt Lane guide her to a sitting position, then he removed the blindfold.

"Where are we?" Lisbon asked as she took in her surroundings.

The room was empty and the windows had been covered up with boards, only allowing a little bit of light in. Lane came over to her and uncuffed one of her hands, only to cuff the other one to a chain on the floor.

"I want to make sure you don't do anything rash," Lane explained, then left, closing a door behind him.

Lisbon shook her head with despair. She didn't know where she was or how to get out of there. And she _had_ to see Jane.


	10. Tracking the heart

9. TRACKING THE HEART

She had almost done it.

Getting rid of the chain had been easy; Michael Lane had really made a mistake when he had decided to leave one of her hands free. The next thing she had to do was to find a way out. It would have been a waste of time to try the door, when Lane would most probably be on the other side of it and catch her in the act, so she concentrated on the window. The shutters were padlocked, and Lisbon wished she had something she could use to try to pick the lock. Since she didn't, she started to try to loosen the screws that held the shutters to the hinges, which was not easy to do in the dark. She broke some of her nails in the process, but she didn't even mind it; at least it was working.

She couldn't believe it when one of the shutters started to fall back out of place. With a quick look at the closed door behind her, she figured she had to be quick and, after a kick in the shutter to widen the space, she climbed on the windowpane and with an impulse she went through. Before she could even celebrate her escape, though, she felt his presence.

"Where are you going, Teresa?" he asked softly. "You really thought you were gonna be able to escape? I could have stopped you before and saved you some energy, but I wanted to see if you really thought you could pull it off. And apparently, you did."

Lisbon looked at Lane, who was pointing a gun at her. He looked almost… _hurt_ at her attempt to run away. She shook her head pleadingly.

"I really _need_ to see Jane. Tonight. Please, take me there."

She couldn't believe her eyes; slowly, Lane lowered his gun, nodding, then smiled.

"I can't say no when you beg like that, my sweet Teresa."

Then he took her hand and walked her to the car. He drove back to Sacramento, and straight to the hospital where Lisbon thought Jane would have been taken to. However, when he parked the car, he went back to kidnapper mode.

"We're going in together and I'm staying right outside the room. You make sure he doesn't wake up, you understand? Just take a look at him and come right out."

She agreed. They went in, trying not to call anybody's attention. It was late at night, so there weren't many people walking around the hospital's hallways. When a nurse had to run for an emergency and left the nurses' station deserted, Lisbon took the chance to search in the computer's records for a Patrick Jane. She found him, and the number of his room. Lane held her arm and they rushed together to the room. Upon entering the corridor, they saw a guard outside the room, who seemed to be napping on his chair.

"What are we gonna do?" Lisbon whispered, exasperated.

"I'll be outside, you go in," Lane answered. "As planned."

She took a deep breath and they slowly approached the room. Lane stayed outside while she entered, took a look at Jane's chart then approached him. He was asleep, but she wished she could talk to him. She remembered Lane right outside, and that he had told her to make sure he didn't wake up. With a sigh, she stroked his hair, wishing he would be fine. But then he woke up.

Lisbon worried that Lane might enter the room at any second, but he didn't. When she left the room, he was there, next to the guard who was asleep. They left, in a hurry, without a word and, when they reached the end of the hallway, Lisbon decided to throw a pen that was lying around on top of a counter towards the sleeping guard. She saw it as he woke up, startled. He was supposed to be guarding Jane, not sleeping, she thought irritated.

"So he woke up," Lane commented as he handcuffed Lisbon in the seat next to his in the car.

Lisbon looked at him, unsure of what to say. He started to drive away.

"I'm glad you didn't try anything stupid," he went on. "I would have hated to have to enter the room, shoot you both and make a scene out of it. You were a great girl tonight."

He smiled warmly at her, putting his hand on her thigh and giving it a little squeeze. She didn't know what to make of it.

"Where to?" she asked hesitantly.

"I don't know. I can't reach Boyle, so he can't help us, he might even give the police our location. I think we should run away, my darling. Where no one can find us."

Lisbon started shaking almost uncontrollably. Lane thought she was a part of his team now? He spoke to her as if she was his ally. And yet, she was handcuffed next to him. With a deep breath, now that she was a bit more relieved about Jane's safety, she started to seriously worry about hers.

* * *

><p>Jane looked at both sides as he got out of the cab, and it didn't seem like anybody had followed him, so he made his way into the motel carrying a plastic bag with food and water. He went straight to room number fifteen and knocked. A while later, the door opened, and he saw a man he knew.<p>

"You're… you're the new mail guy," he blurted out, flabbergasted.

"Come on in, Mr. Jane," he said, pulling Jane by his arm.

Inside, Boyle wanted to start eating first, and talking second. Jane waited, even though impatiently. When he finally spoke, he started by telling Jane how Lisbon had left him locked there the day before.

"Well, I'm sure the only reason why she didn't come back is because she was taken by your partner," Jane said, in a matter-of-fact tone.

"Well, it turns out I don't know what to do now, you know?" Boyle said. "I don't know if Lane knows that she found me or if he thinks I betrayed him. I fear for my safety!"

"Look, depending on how good your information is, we can protect you," Jane promised, approaching Boyle and looking deep into his eyes.

By Boyle's expression, Jane knew his information wasn't exactly very good. "Tell me everything you know," he demanded.

Christopher Boyle told Jane all he knew, starting with the San Francisco case and everything that came after that. He explained how Michael Lane had started all this in the hopes that he could get revenge for his brother, but had ended up obsessed with Lisbon.

"It's weird. Sometimes he hates her and wants to kill her, and sometimes I think… I think he sort of loves her."

"Where is he?" Jane demanded.

"I don't know honestly." Boyle explained. "He would always call me asking me to meet him, but I lost my phone when your girlfriend brought me here. I wish I could help you out really."

"You said you could help me find her!"

"And I did help, with information…" Boyle defended himself. "And you said you could protect me…"

"I swear if anything happens to her then Lane won't be the only one I go after," Jane snarled before getting up. "Let's go," he said, annoyed.

"No, I'm not leaving this room, not until you guarantee I'm getting protection," Boyle answered.

"She is in trouble. You are coming to the CBI to tell them _everything _you know," Jane demanded.

"I highly doubt he is going to hurt her, but he will hurt me if he finds out I helped the CBI," Boyle explained.

Jane felt like punching the man in the face.

"I could care less about your damn life, Boyle. I only care about hers," Jane replied heatedly as he pulled out his phone. "Cho, I need you to meet me, I have a suspect," Jane stated aggravated.

Boyle jumped to his feet to grab the phone, but Jane had already given Cho the address.

"What the hell are you doing?" Boyle asked frightened.

"How would he know that you talked to the CBI?" Jane asked with suspicion.

"He seems to be monitoring my progress," Boyle muttered.

"And how do you know that?" Jane asked but had a feeling he already knew the answer.

"He always shows up where I'm at even when I don't tell him," Boyle explained.

"What item do you always wear?" Jane asked quickly.

"What?"

"He gave you something to wear as a thank you, but he told you never to take it off," Jane clarified. "What is it?"

"He gave me this watch," Boyle stated still confused, looking at the golden watch on his wrist.

"Give it to me," Jane ordered.

Boyle took off the watch and handed it to him. Jane studied the watch quickly hoping to find what he was looking for.

"It is just a watch," Boyle explained, waving his hands.

"No, somewhere in it there is a tracking device. If he can track you then we should be able to track where he is hiding," Jane said as he opened the door. "Stay here until someone comes."

"Wait! Someone who? Will I get protection?"

Jane ignored Boyle and left. He waited outside the motel for Cho to show and then explained everything Boyle had said.

"We need this examined," Jane showed the watch. "But we can't do it in the CBI. If Lane suspects Boyle's there then he can be mad at Lisbon."

"All right," Cho nodded, then dialed a number on his phone. "Van Pelt, bring the tech expert, we need a tracking device examined."

"Good," Jane nodded, taking a relieved breath.

"Have you seen or heard from her?" Cho asked as he put away his phone.

"Yes," Jane answered knowing that the visit in the hospital hadn't been a dream.

"So she is alive," Cho revived.

"She was afraid," Jane whispered softly. "Not just for herself but for me. _I_ need to find her."

"I know," Cho replied.

* * *

><p>After analyzing the device carefully, the expert determined it was possible to make it track Lane instead, but Lane would know that the device's signal was lost, which could make him suspect Boyle had been caught or turned himself in to the police, or he could simply throw his device away judging it would be of no use anymore. Jane and Cho decided it was a risk worth taking and had him do what he had to in order to make it work.<p>

"We need to move, Cho," Jane said, troubled.

"We want to make sure we have the right location," Van Pelt explained.

"We are wasting time," Jane spat and started pacing around the motel room.

"Wainwright told us to make sure we were right before we go in," Cho remarked watching the blip on the screen showing where Lane was supposed to be.

"Wainwright is just trying to cover his ass. You and I both know that Lisbon is there and the more time we waste the worse off she could be," Jane shouted. The team exchanged looks with each other. "Stop with the looks, I know what you are thinking!" Jane said.

"Jane, why don't you try and sleep. We can handle this," Van Pelt said with care.

"I don't need sleep," Jane said defensively.

He needed to get out of the motel. The longer they waited the more likely it became that Lane might actually kill Lisbon if she didn't corporate with him anymore. He headed towards the door when Cho's voice stopped him.

"Where are you going?"

"I need some fresh air," Jane said as he walked out of the room.

Jane walked down the steps of the motel leading to the parking lot. He hadn't completely lied to Cho when he said he needed fresh air, but he wasn't about to go back to that room. He stared at the parking lot trying to find the car he was looking for. As soon as he saw it, he ran towards it and entered, then started the engine and took off for Lane's hideout.

"Go check on Jane," Cho told Van Pelt. Van Pelt nodded and walked out. A few minutes later she came back.

"Cho, he isn't here," Van Pelt stated.

"He couldn't have gotten away, he doesn't even have his car," Rigsby stated obviously.

"Check your pockets, everyone see if you are missing keys," Cho ordered as the team checked their pockets.

"I think he has mine," Boyle stated.

"Call Wainwright, Van Pelt. Rigsby, you and I are going after him," Cho said as he walked out the door.

Jane had at least a fifteen-minute headstart before Cho would figure out that he was gone. He had to get there before the team did and hope that he could convince Lane to let Lisbon go. He pulled onto a dirt road that lead to an old house. Stopping the car he looked around thinking that it wasn't much of a hideout. Jane parked the car in front of the house and got out. He was heading towards the front door when he heard the click of a gun.

"I was wondering when you would show up."

"Where is she, Lane?" Jane asked but didn't turn around.

"Oh you will she her soon enough," Lane laughed and then hit Jane in the back of the head, knocking him out cold.


	11. Betrayal

10. BETRAYAL

The basement was cold and had some mildew around it, so Lisbon decided it meant that Lane had taken her to a place near the beach. At least this time she wasn't handcuffed, but the place had no windows and the only light came from a small bulb hanging from the ceiling. The door was a solid oak door with what she assumed were several locks by the sound of it when Lane locked her in.

Lane had been down to see her only a few times, twice for bringing her food and another one to lead her to a bathroom. Lane still acted as if they were partners in this little sick scheme of his, so Lisbon had tried telling him that, if he cared about her, he wouldn't keep her locked in a room, but he had just smiled and said that it was for her protection against evil people or people who tried to take her from him. That reply had only made her more worried about what he might end up doing with her. And being worried didn't help her to keep acting like his best friend; in fact, her patience was wearing thin.

She had been sitting against the back of the wall when she heard the locks on the door being undone. Bright light streamed into the room as Lane walked down the steps, and Lisbon wished there was something heavy that she could throw at him.

"How are you this evening, my dear?" Lane asked sweetly.

"Go to hell," she spat.

"I think we may need to work on language," Lane said with a smile. Lisbon shuddered at the thought of spending more time with him. "I have a gift for you to show you how much I care."

"What is it?" Lisbon asked skeptic.

"I'll be right back," Lane answered gleefully as he walked back upstairs. A few moments later he came down dragging another person with him.

"Jane!" Lisbon yelled as she got to her feet. Lane motioned her to back off as he dropped Jane unceremoniously on the ground. "What did you do to him?" Lisbon scowled.

"He'll live for now," Lane replied and headed over to her.

Lisbon backed up against the wall as Lane's hand came to stroke her cheek, and she fought the urge to try to kill him there and then. "Such a feisty little thing," Lane stated before he headed back upstairs.

"Jane?" Lisbon was at his side immediately after Lane closed the door.

"Lisbon?" Jane mumbled as Lisbon placed his head in her lap. The guy looked worse than she had seen him in a long time.

"I'm here," Lisbon replied quietly as she stroked his cheek. His eyes began to flutter open as he became more awake.

"Lisbon," Jane repeated as vision came into focus. A huge smile crept on his lips as he looked at her.

"Are you okay?" Lisbon asked as she removed her hand. Jane nodded as he started to sit-up but a wave of pain hit him. "Whoa, you need to take it easy," Lisbon said as she helped him stand up.

"Where are we?" Jane asked as he looked around.

"I'm thinking somewhere near a beach but I'm not entirely sure," Lisbon replied as she stood in front of him. She felt an urge to pull him into a hug. "How did you get here?"

"Are you okay?" Jane asked, ignoring her question.

"Better than you are at the moment," she responded with a smile but it disappeared instantly as she looked at him. "God Jane, I'm so sorry," she said as tears started at her eyes.

"Lisbon," Jane said softly before he used his good arm to pull her into a hug. She wrapped her arms around him and placed her head against his chest to hear his heartbeat.

"I thought I'd lost you," he whispered into her ear.

"I'm still here," Lisbon replied, remembering how she'd asked herself whether she would ever see him again.

"Why didn't you tell me everything?" Jane asked quietly.

"I didn't want you to get hurt," Lisbon responded with a laugh.

"What?"

"I think you have told me that a few times," Lisbon answered as she stepped out of his embrace. "How is the shoulder?" she then asked softly.

"It will heal," Jane responded.

"I know a great physical therapist," Lisbon laughed.

"Well I would hope so," Jane remarked as he placed a hand on her cheek.

"Jane." Lisbon warned.

"Don't ever do anything like this to me again," Jane stated softly.

"I promise never to shoot you again," Lisbon smirked but Jane's eyes were dead serious. Lisbon sighed and grabbed his head in both her hands. "I promise."

There was some sort of electric current between them for a minute there as they stared deeply into each other's eyes, standing just inches away from each other. Then Jane nodded and removed his hand from her face before he walked around the room, trying to decide on a plan to get the both of them out of there before things got worse. He watched as Lisbon headed to the wall opposite to the door and sat down with her back against it.

"Tired?" Jane asked as he sat down next to her.

"I haven't slept much in the past few days," Lisbon said as she stared at the door.

"Why don't you try and get some sleep?" Jane suggested.

"Not as long as we are both stuck here," Lisbon answered.

"Teresa, you need sleep. If we plan on getting out of here then you need to be at the top of your game," Jane whispered.

Lisbon turned her head to look at him and opened her mouth to protest but his eyes made her drop her head in defeat, mostly because, if she ignored her worry for both of their lives, she was really glad that he was there with her. Jane placed his good arm around her, pulling her close to him. She sighed and rested her head against his chest.

"What about you?" Lisbon asked sleepily.

"I got enough sleep in the hospital," Jane replied with a smile.

"Well that is one way to make sure you sleep," Lisbon mumbled as she started to fall asleep.

"Not a way I want to repeat," Jane replied.

"Wake me up in an hour," Lisbon said before drifting off completely.

"Sleep, my dear Teresa," Jane whispered in her ear as she snuggled closer to him. Jane smiled as he looked down at her, giving her a little squeeze.

* * *

><p>"Don't you two look cute," Lane's voice drifted down from the door. He walked down the steps while he pulled his gun out and aimed it at Jane.<p>

"Leave him alone," Lisbon said as she jumped to her feet and stood in front of Jane, protecting him.

"I told you to leave him out of it," Lane snarled.

"You brought me here," Jane spat back as he got to his feet as well.

"Well there was a reason for that," Lane explained with a devilish smile. "See, I want dear Teresa to see how much she means to me and that I would do anything for her."

"Get a grip on reality, buddy," Jane shot back as he moved from behind Lisbon.

"Jane," Lisbon cried as she grabbed his hand. He gave her a reassuring smile before he let go of her hand and walked over to Lane.

"You are one to talk. Chasing after a monster for how many years is it now?" Lane asked knowing he was pushing Jane.

"You bastard," Lisbon responded surprising both Jane and Lane.

"Sweetheart, this is guy talk," Lane said in a gentle voice. Jane heard Lisbon huff at the comment.

"I'm not your sweetheart, and I swear if you touch him or me I will kill you," Lisbon replied angrily.

"You are going to let her protect you?" Lane asked Jane.

"Everyday," Jane answered.

"Well then there is only one solution to our problem," Lane said as he aimed the gun again at Jane and pulled the trigger.

"JANE!" Lisbon screamed as she watched his body fall in slow motion to the ground. She ran over to him and placed her hands on the hole in his chest.

"I told you my dear Teresa, no one will stand in our way," Lane stated.

"You bastard," Lisbon cried but Lane just smirked and headed back upstairs.

"Jane?" Lisbon asked hoarsely.

"Teresa I need to tell you something," Jane whispered.

"Shh, don't talk," Lisbon said in tears.

"Teresa, for a long time now I've been," Jane started to say but his voice was straining.

"Jane, stay with me," Lisbon begged.

"I love you, Teresa," Jane whispered with what looked like a relieved smile before his eyes fluttered shut. Lisbon let the tears fall as she held on to Jane.

"Lisbon!" Jane's voice was distant. "Lisbon, you are having a nightmare." Jane stated as he tried to wake Lisbon up.

"Jane?" Lisbon asked as she startled awake, clutching to his shirt.

"Yeah, you were having a nightmare," Jane replied as he rubbed her back trying to calm her. Lisbon buried her head in Jane's chest, not wanting to let him go.

"Everything was so real," her voiced was muffled as she talked against his shirt.

"You are safe," Jane whispered.

Lisbon miffed as she raised her head. Jane noticed her eyes were puffy and red.

"We aren't safe! We are held hostage by a psychopath who has already mad it clear that he isn't going to go to jail," Lisbon stated furious.

"Lisbon, calm down," Jane spoke softly as he pulled her back to his chest.

"How can you even be calm?" Lisbon asked.

"Because I'm with you," Jane stated seriously. "And I know that you're all right."

Lisbon sighed as she pulled back and looked at him.

"Thank you," Lisbon stated simply before she leaned over and kissed him in the cheek.

"I promise I won't let anything happen to you," Jane replied with a smile.

"Says the man who runs away from explosion," Lisbon grinned.

"Slight detail," Jane smiled back.

Lisbon's eyes caught his and the electric current they felt before returned with full force. She closed her eyes as Jane leaned down and captured her lips with his own.

Opening his eyes to the sight of her face had opened his eyes to how lost he would have been if he hadn't found her. And that had opened the door that he had long before shut to his heart and all the feelings that had grown there which he had chosen to be unaware of. It all came to him at once, and it was overwhelming. It was suddenly clear in Jane's mind that Lisbon was the most important person in his life now, and that there was nothing he wouldn't do to protect her. Because he was in love with her. And even with all the reasons he could think of for not acting on those feelings, if she should ever manifest that she loved him back, there was nothing that would justify denying her the love she demanded and deserved.

She jumped in her sleep, and he tightened his grip around her. Then he saw a tear roll down her face.

"I love you too, Jane," she whispered, and he wondered if she had been able to read his mind. He smiled at the coincidence. Then she started shaking and mumbling, "No, no!"

He woke her up and told her it was a nightmare. She held him tight, relieved. He already had his answer. He loved her, and she loved him back. And maybe they wouldn't have much more time; he promised her he wouldn't let her get hurt, but that might cost him his life, which he would give her gladly. As the kiss that he leaned down to give her, and to which she corresponded instantly. They kissed slowly and passionately, holding each other tightly, in a silent conversation that answered questions as old as the eight years they had known each other.

"Teresa… what are you doing?"

It was Michael Lane's voice. Lisbon and Jane turned to look at him, and there was disbelief in his expression. "You betrayed me," he said, reaching for his gun.


	12. Some time

_**Well, SteeleSimz and I are both very happy and very sad to inform that this is the last chapter of our story. However, we all do get an epilogue very soon. This was a fun ride for us as writers and we hope it was as good for you readers as it was for us. Thank you guys so much for reading as well as for favoriting and reviewing. See you next time!**_

* * *

><p>11. SOME TIME<p>

"Calm down, Lane," Jane started, his hands clasped in front of him in surrender. "It was all my fault. I kissed Teresa, she didn't betray you."

Lisbon looked at him, unsure of what to do and of what he was doing, but he gave her a small nod, as if asking her to play along.

"It's true, Michael," Lisbon said, also raising her hands. "It meant nothing to me, I was just about to push him away."

"It didn't seem like you were," Lane countered, but Lisbon saw hesitation as he pointed the gun at her.

She gave Jane another quick look, and he gave her another nod. He wanted her to act more.

"Michael," she said, swallowing. "I love you, only you."

"It was a mistake to bring him here," Lane started saying, and his eyes were filling with tears. "It was so good when it was only the two of us."

Lisbon approached him, with a small smile.

"Then let him go," she whispered, hopeful. "Let's be alone."

"We'll be alone," Lane said euphorically, in a sudden change. "But I'll kill him, so he won't come looking for you. He always gets in our way…"

"No!" Lisbon protested, a bit too emphatically, she realized. "No," she repeated, restraining her emotions this time. "You don't have to become a killer, that's not what you are. Here, give me the gun."

Lane hesitated.

"I can't," he answered, seeming scared. "I can't give you the gun."

Lisbon did her best to look hurt. She put a hand over her chest.

"You don't trust me?" she asked. "Is that what you're telling me, Michael?"

Jane was observing from behind, and he could tell Lane was about to give her the gun. Then his eyes shifted to Jane, giving him a look of pure hatred before his entire body tensed and refocused on Lisbon.

"No, I don't trust you," Lane responded. "You are a terrible liar."

"Michael, I promise," Lisbon began before Lane interrupted her.

"You are done, both of you," Lane responded angrily before heading upstairs.

"Told you were a terrible liar," Jane whispered with a slight smirk.

"Hush," Lisbon responded as she walked back over to him. "Why didn't you tell the team?"

"What?" Jane asked bewildered.

"If you had bothered telling someone where you were heading then the team could have followed and we would be out of this situation," Lisbon explained.

"Sorry for trying to save you," Jane stated defensively.

"I don't need you to save me," Lisbon hissed, irritated.

"Yeah, I forgot you're a cop. God forbid I should try and save the woman I love," Jane said heatedly.

"Go to hell you..." Lisbon began to say before his words had sunk in. "What did you say?"

"Nothing," Jane muttered.

"You said you loved me," Lisbon spoke softly. Jane refused to meet her eyes. It wasn't until Lisbon grabbed his face in her hands and forced him to look at her.

"Yes," Jane whispered, and Lisbon took a moment to contemplate a sight she hadn't seen many times before in her life; the sight of Jane completely unsure about how to act around somebody.

"I love you," Lisbon whispered back with a smile, in an impulse, before she gave him a quick kiss on the lips.

Jane looked deep into her eyes, with a very serious expression, still looking unsure. That's when they heard the sound of the door opening and Lane's feet appeared walking slowly down the stairs.

"Lane, you realize that people are looking for us," Lisbon said angrily, knowing trying to act would be completely useless now.

"I told you I'm not going to jail," Lane replied. "That's not gonna happen."

"Let us go and you can run off," Jane suggested. Lisbon rolled her eyes.

"Are you some sort of wise guy?" Lane asked annoyed.

"Depends on my mood," Jane answered. Lisbon glared at him, hoping that he would stop.

"Lane, I promise, if you let us go I will work with your lawyer on getting your sentence reduced," Lisbon explained.

"Nice try. You didn't offer any bargain to my brother, did you?" Lane asked sarcastically.

"Your brother killed innocent people," Lisbon stated seriously.

"You can't prove that," Lane yelled. "You and Bosco lied because you had no proof and then he killed him in cold blood and nothing was ever done about it."

"Tell that to the families of the people he murdered," Lisbon countered angrily.

"Lisbon," Jane whispered in her ear as he watched Lane's entire body language change.

"You should have come with me, my dear," Lane announced as he pointed the gun towards her.

"Lane, stop and think about what you are about to do," Lisbon said slowly, with fear in her voice.

"It's all going to end here and now." Lane began. "Sorry we couldn't be together, Teresa."

Jane watched as Lisbon pushed him out of the way as Lane pulled the trigger. Then in slow motion he watched Lisbon tackle Lane to the ground trying to fight him off but her fatigue showed as Lane got the upper hand by shoving her away from him. Lisbon let out a slight grunt of pain as she hit the floor.

"You bitch!" Lane exclaimed as he aimed the gun at her.

A loud blast made Jane jump in place, and as dust rose, he couldn't figure out what was happening for a second.

"Put it down," Van Pelt shouted from the stairs, causing everyone to turn their eyes on her direction. Lane laughed before he focused on Lisbon again and was about to pull the trigger. Lisbon saw his finger moving, but the shot she heard didn't come from his gun; it was Van Pelt who had taken the shot, and Lane tumbled down on top of Lisbon, who felt suddenly too weak to stand up or move out of the way.

"Boss, you okay?" Van Pelt asked when she got to Lisbon.

"Get this bastard off me," she answered. Van Pelt nodded and helped her move Lane. Lisbon got to her feet and headed over to Jane.

"You okay?" she asked in a hurry.

"Yeah, just really sore," Jane stated as he allowed her to help him to his feet, noticing that her whole body trembled.

"Hey Boss, you okay?" Rigsby asked as he came down the stairs.

"Yes, but how did you guys find us?" Lisbon asked.

"Cho planted a GPS tracking device in Jane's jacket," Rigsby explained.

"Good thinking," Lisbon stated softly. Cho descended the stairs with several other agents from both the CBI and the FBI.

"Boss," Cho acknowledged. "Wainwright wants to speak with you."

"Tell him he can wait. I want to get Jane to a hospital," Lisbon said firmly as she grabbed Jane's hand and led him upstairs.

When they exited the place, Lisbon still couldn't get her head around the fact that she was free from Lane. The place was surrounded by agents and local law enforcement, which reminded her that it was all over. One way or another, she just felt like she had to get the hell out of there. She was about to ask Cho for the keys to the car when Wainwright called out to her.

"Agent."

"Sir," Lisbon answered.

"It's good to see you two are okay," he said, looking relieved. Then he ordered, "I want you and Jane to go to a hospital and take care of yourselves. And then, I'm going to want to talk to you."

Lisbon's reply was a nod, as she had barely made sense of the words she had just heard. She felt as though she was numb the whole time as she entered the car with Jane, and while Rigsby drove them to the hospital, and as she was examined and her injuries, which were minor, were bandaged. She only seemed to be able to focus again when it was Jane's turn to be examined; she listened to the doctor closely.

"It looks like everything's fine," the doctor explained. "The stitches didn't come out, which is good. You will more than likely be sore and tired tomorrow, so I recommend a few days off to rest."

"Thank you, doctor," Lisbon said as she shook his hand.

"Make sure he takes his medication to help with the pain, and that he starts physical therapy right away." the doctor stated before leaving them.

"Great, I hate hospitals," Jane commented, stretching as he got to his feet.

"Who likes them?" Lisbon yawned, standing up from the plastic chair she had been sitting in.

"So I'm fine, and what about you?" Jane asked, standing in front of her.

"Nothing a good night's sleep won't cure," Lisbon replied, nodding in an attempt to convince him.

"Teresa, you were kidnapped. You can't just tell me you're perfectly fine," Jane protested with a concerned expression.

"You're right," she said, in a pleading tone, avoiding his eyes. "But I need some time."

Jane sighed and nodded his head, reading deeper into her statement; she needed time for more than just recovering from what had happened to her. Maybe he needed that time too. Feeling grateful that he had seemed to understand, Lisbon smiled tiredly, and leaned over to give him a kiss on his forehead, and felt it as his hand landed lightly on her back.

They stood like that for a few moments, then started walking slowly towards the exit, both feeling an urge to hold each other's hand, but deciding it was better not to.


	13. Epilogue

**_So this is the epilogue, and we've reached end of this story. I hope you guys have enjoyed reading it as much as we have enjoyed writing it. SteeleSimz and I would like to thank everyone who read. See you next time! _**

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><p>EPILOGUE<p>

"Agent, come in," Wainwright stated, annoyed. Lisbon nodded as she entered his office, feeling very nervous. "Wait here, Jane," the young boss ordered before closing the door.

"Do you want to tell me what you were thinking?" Wainwright asked as he motioned Lisbon to sit.

"Sir, it was a problem that I needed to fix," Lisbon replied.

"You should have informed me about what you were doing. I don't like it when my people think that it is better to tackle a case alone, especially one that is personal," Wainwright lectured.

"Sir, I can explain," Lisbon stated.

"I don't want to hear it. The PSU will look into the situation and get back to me with their recommendation. Until that time I'm putting you on suspension as well as your team," Wainwright informed her.

"Sir, the team had nothing to do with this," Lisbon argued.

"They already confessed to helping you," Wainwright stated.

"Sir, I promise they had..." Lisbon began before Wainwright waved her off.

"The higher ups want the suspension in hopes that it will keep you and your team in line. I will be blunt when I tell you that if you are to disobey me or break any rules you will be fired as well as your team," Wainwright explained. "Are we clear?"

"Yes, sir," Lisbon answered, resigned.

"Jane, come in," Wainwright stated. "Agent, you are dismissed."

Lisbon nodded and rose to her feet. She met Jane at the door and nodded to his unspoken question on whether she would wait for him so they could talk. She owed him that much, especially after what had happened between them. They had not only kissed for the first time but they had admitted that they loved each other. Lisbon knew things had changed for them while they had been trapped, but the question at hand was, how were they to deal with it?

They hadn't seen each other in a few days, since they had left the hospital together. It was only after receiving a call from Wainwright, setting a meeting for that afternoon, that Lisbon had dialed Jane's number and heard his voice for the first time after that brief break. They had asked each other how they were doing and talked about what the boss might say when they met with him. No reference was made to the conversation they both knew they must have.

Lisbon allowed her mind to wander as she walked up the stairs to Jane's attic, presuming he would be there as soon as he was done talking to Wainwright. Sitting on his makeshift bed, Lisbon closed her eyes for a moment, thinking back to the kiss they had shared. She loved Jane and knew he loved her, but would she allow her heart to be broken by a man who was still set on killing Red John and staying loyal to his deceased wife? Was protecting him worth losing her career? The truth was that, despite all the questions her reason was throwing at her, little did they matter right now, as she waited for him. She realized that, after only a few days away from him, she had come to miss him terribly. The thought that he would soon be joining her in the attic now seemed more important than everything else. Lisbon smiled, guessing her questions were as good as answered.

A cup of hot tea was what Jane needed after his meeting with Wainwright. Not because of what he had heard, but because of the next conversation he was about to have. As if all the confusion wasn't enough, he was also sore after having to endure the first few sessions of physical therapy. He remembered with a smile about how Lisbon had insisted that he started the sessions immediately, bringing it up several times as they left the hospital together.

Jane wasn't worried about anybody's jobs at the CBI. He was absolutely certain everything was going to be all right in that department. He had previously made it very clear that he was only going to be working with this team, and he knew he was considered too good an asset to lose.

What he was really worried about was what had happened between him and Lisbon. At the time, he hadn't been able to give much thought to the consequences of confessing his love for her, a feeling he had so long hidden not only from her or everyone else, but especially from himself. However, during those days they had been apart, he had had a chance to think, and he had thought so much that he had made himself exhausted.

It was a fact that he was scared to death of having a relationship with Lisbon. His past was still the major force in his life and, even if Red John was to be out of his life, his past would still be there. It was what made him the person he was today. But he couldn't help the doubts that entered his mind at the thought of being closer to Lisbon as more than friends.

He was able to conclude that, despite his fears of getting close to anyone after losing his wife and daughter, Jane had discovered that, as much as he tried to push people away, they had gotten closer. The team was his family, while Lisbon was the person that meant more to him. The kiss and admission of love they had shared in that basement had changed his world. Upon discovering such a pure, selfless feeling, it would be too much of a contradiction for him not to offer it to Lisbon, and let her do whatever she might want with it.

He put his tea cup in the sink and smiled, realizing that just the thought of her waiting for him in his attic made his heart leap slightly. When he arrived there, Lisbon sat on his makeshift bed, lost in thought.

"Hey," he whispered into her ear as he sat down next to her.

"I didn't hear you come in," Lisbon replied as she opened her eyes to look at him. "Jane."

His reply was a huge smile, just staring into her eyes. She bit her lip. "So how was it, what did Wainwright tell you?"

"Well," Jane shrugged. "Nothing new. The same nonsense about how we're all suspended and our jobs are on the line and so on. I didn't listen to half of it."

"Jane," Lisbon shook her head disapprovingly. "Our jobs _are _on the line."

"Meh," Jane said, not looking at all worried.

"Maybe I should start looking for another job anyway," Lisbon said, looking away distractedly. "I've already messed up so much in this one."

"Lisbon," Jane called her attention. "Really? You know I can always get your job back for you."

"You're so arrogant!" Lisbon exclaimed, outraged.

"I am," Jane admitted with a smile. "And yet, you love me just the way I am."

Lisbon sighed, defeated. As it turned out, he was right once again. And that reminded her that they needed to talk about that, about the love they had not long ago confessed to each other.

"I know we need to talk," Jane said serious, as though reading her mind, then his face lit up with a smile. "But we don't need to decide anything right now."

"What do you mean?" Lisbon frowned.

"What I mean is, the hardest stuff we had to say we have already said," Jane explained.

"But how do we go on, I mean… What now?" Lisbon asked, a hint of exasperation in her voice.

"We have time, my dear. It will answer all our doubts," Jane said, in a serene tone. As difficult and complicated as it might feel for him to make plans on being with someone after his wife's death, he felt nothing but calm right now. This was Lisbon. There wasn't a question to be answered. His heart simply belonged to her already; he didn't have to decide on whether to give it to her or not. He took her hand in his. "The important thing is we know we want the same thing, so that, whatever happens and how we get there, we will eventually meet in the middle."

Lisbon was about to ask him how he could be so sure, but he leaned to give her a slow kiss, while caressing her cheek, and all her worries seemed to fade away. "So rest for now," he suggested, still worried. "You've been through a lot. Whatever you need, I'm here for you. I'm wherever you need me to be."

Lisbon smiled, looking away from him.

"How about you take me out for some dinner, then?" she said, feeling like a little girl on Christmas. "I'm starving."

"Great," Jane replied, "because I'm starving too."

As soon as they were away from the CBI, driving in Jane's car, he chased her hand with his and held it until he parked his car in front of their favorite diner, where they would always have lunch during cases. When they met in front of the car again, they just held hands again, as though they had always been used to doing so.


End file.
